Eeth Koth, Jedi Knight and Babysitter
by SWFicWriters
Summary: Instead of saving the galaxy from evil, as he had hoped, the newly-knighted Jedi Eeth Koth is put in charge of an eleven-year-old padawan… Warning: This story contains frequent spanking scenes of a non-sexual, disciplinary nature and occasional coarse language. Don't enjoy, don't read. We do not endorse the spanking of real children. Obviously, this is fiction.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome, new and old readers, to the next installment in our Star Wars sagas! We'd like to thank all of those who have given us feedback and stayed with us. We hope you're going to enjoy this one as well. As our other stories, it is based on previous role-playing and edited into a story format, so it involves alternating points of view. The main character is Eeth Koth who is canon. The rest of the characters are not since we started writing this long before the Clone Wars series made an appearance. If you'd like to read more on Eeth's youth, on his time as a master of his first padawan, Lakhri Tumuel, who will feature prominently in subsequent stories, or on his third padawan, Lok Dar, feel free to check the author profile of Livia Yoran. You truly and honestly don't need to read any of this to understand this story, though. It starts at the beginning.

In this story, Eeth is put in charge of a junior padawan, Eden. His interaction with Eden involves some discipline, including – sometimes severe – spanking of a non-sexual nature. It might also involve the occasional bit of coarse language. If this bothers you, don't read it. Very simple. We're neither intending this to be parenting advice literature nor a realistic description of childhood; it's fiction, and a type of fiction we happen to enjoy writing and hope some of you enjoy reading.

We realise that our master characters will at times come across as harsh to some. However, please keep in mind that this is a fictional universe in which teenagers with extraordinary, potentially lethal abilities are raised to do an incredibly hard, dangerous and responsible job. Their masters feel an obligation to keep them in line in order to protect them and others. That sometimes includes dispensing with the cuddling and telling them to do their duty. These are teenagers, after all, not small children. There will always be times to offer comfort and moments of closeness between master and padawan, but they might sometimes have to wait; plus, masters might have their own issues… Fortunately for our padawans, our master characters have near-magical healing abilities at their disposal, allowing us to indulge our preference for strict discipline. ;) We realise that this might not be everybody's cup of tea. We assure you, though, that there's always character development and growth involved in our story arcs. This will become obvious when we (soon) start on the story of Eeth and his second padawan, Raven. Until then, we hope you enjoy reading the story of Eeth's first mission as a newly knighted Jedi. It was fun for us to write and we're looking forward to sharing it with you all.

–Livia&Raven

 **Chapter One**

Jedi Knight Eeth Koth closed the kitchen drawer. The kitchen held everything he needed, he decided. Just as the rest of his brand new quarters did. Now that this was settled, he might as well make himself useful. Without giving his standard quarters with their standard furniture and equipment a second glance, he strode towards the door and set off for the Council chamber.

* * *

"You would like to request a mission," the Twi'lek Council secretary on duty repeated Eeth's statement. He looked at Eeth with narrowed eyes. "I've already seen you today," he said. "Weren't you knighted, like…"

"Three and a half hours ago," Eeth said promptly.

"Three and a half hours ago," the Twi'lek said in obvious amusement. "You passed your trials, when?"

"Yesterday," Eeth said with dignity. "And I believe I have asked for a mission, not for a discussion of my schedule."

The secretary chuckled. "You are keen, aren't you? Well, I will pass your request on to the Council. If they see fit to assign you a mission, you will be informed."

Eeth badly felt like asking him what he was supposed to do in the meantime. He did not even have any teaching assignments, nothing! However, he was aware that making such a request would be way too impatient; it might be construed as childish, even. Therefore, he contented himself with giving a curt nod of acknowledgement. Then, for lack of better things to do, he headed for the gym. After a long and thorough workout, he had still not received a call. He stopped for groceries on his way home, but nothing too much; after all, he might be assigned a mission any time soon! However, the evening passed by without a call and his impatience grew.

* * *

"Be patient, Eeth," his former master Fenya Jaa said. Eeth was glad that she knew him well enough to refrain from showing the type of amusement he had detected in the Council secretary.

"I am being patient," Eeth pointed out. "But I do not like being idle. How long will it be, in your experience, until they finally assign me a mission?"

"Not long," said Fenya mildly. "Usually, no more than a week or two. Maybe they are waiting for something suitable to come along."

That was an option Eeth had not thought of. Might it be that the Council was waiting to assign him a mission that would allow him to fully exploit his considerable potential? If that was the case, the wait might actually be worthwhile. Mollified, he pushed thoughts of missions aside and set his mind to sparring against his former master.

* * *

A week later, he was still waiting. While he had been waiting, he had – partly because his former master had persuaded, or even bullied, him – settled into his new life. The kitchen in his quarters was well-stocked. He had stocked up on mission equipment and sorted it into his new closets. He had arranged a few sparring matches with Saesee Tiin, an Iktotchi he knew from their padawan days. He had updated himself at quite some detail on the current political debates in the Senate, and he had started learning Taewok, a language he had, for quite some time, thought might come in useful someday. He had also got used to being addressed as a knight, not living with his master any longer, and his master actually being his "former master" now. Maybe, he mused as he stirred the rice he was cooking for himself one night, that had been among the purposes of the Council's reluctance to assign him a mission right away? The other purpose hopefully being, as his master had suggested, that they were waiting for the right mission! The one that called for a knight who had high prowess with a saber, was flawlessly good at concealing himself, was fluent in several languages, knowledgeable, and disciplined. He was aware that his master would have added "conceited" to the list, but he had always found that a tad unfair; after all, he had worked extremely hard to gain each and every single one of these skills.

* * *

When the call finally came, ten days after he had been knighted, it actually took him by surprise. As he picked up his comlink, on his way home from the gym, he realised that he had stopped expecting it any second. He was all the more glad that now was the moment: he was being summoned to the Council chamber to receive instructions for his first independent mission as a knight.

"I am here to see the Council for a mission briefing," he told the secretary – this time, it was an elderly human woman – after he had arrived.

"Eeth Koth?" asked the woman. "You are not required to see the full Council for this mission. The Councillor on duty, which is Master Tarr, and Knight Zecklaff from Field Service will brief you."

She pointed down the corridor to the right, away from the Council chamber. "Room eleven," she said.

Eeth frowned as he made his way there. He had undertaken any number of missions with his master and knew that critical, complicated or risky missions always meant a briefing in front of the entire Council, whereas the type of meeting he was heading for now was usually reserved for routine affairs or straightforward tasks that involved little risk or complexities. 'I will not complain,' he told himself sternly as he chimed on the door. After all, he was a Jedi Knight and his first and foremost duty was obedience. If the Order required his service, he was going to do his best, no matter how mundane the task.

"Right on time. Knight Koth, please take a seat," said Master Tarr politely, gesturing to the single empty seat beside Zecklaff. When Eeth sat, the Kel Dor slid a data chip and a rather slim folder towards him. It contained little more than a few pages of background on the mission he was being sent into, and a single profile page on the padawan he was to collect and escort back to the temple. "The Temple received an urgent message from Master Jayside-Wex, informing us that due to unforeseen complications, their current mission has become too dangerous for his young padawan, Eden. The Council has assigned you the task of traveling to Antaeus, retrieving the boy and ensuring his safe passage back to the Temple. The situation is not yet critical and can be salvaged if managed carefully, but we too believe it is no longer safe for an eleven-year-old boy. Knight Zecklaff was the field service Jedi responsible for assigning those teams and has a deeper understanding of the situation."

Tarr nodded once and the younger man began to explain. "Antaeus is experiencing a situation that involves the Trade Federation, which is becoming more and more common. Over the past few decades the Trade Federation have managed to obtain a near monopoly on the universal spice trade. They want to make this monopoly absolute. Given that Antaeus has the largest spice deposits of any planet, it is an obvious target. The Trade Federation have made many offers but they were so ruinous that Antaeus' government have thus far refused. Now the Trade Federation have grown tired of being nice, so they attempted to force the issue. They brought in a fleet of starships and threatened that if Antaeus don't relinquish the trading rights to them they will sell their own spice so cheap that Antaeus will be financially ruined. Since spice is the planet's only natural resource, this will hit them hard if the Trade Federation is allowed to proceed. Antaeus, being a member of the republic filed a complaint. The delegates talked, debated and discussed. Meanwhile the spice price dwindled and Antaeus' main source of income began to crumble."

The Knight paused briefly to allow Eeth time to absorb this, then continued. "This is where the Republic Senate requested Jedi intervention. We sent two teams to negotiate and prevent a civil war that would only make things worse. The complications intensified when a Senator from Malastare filed a complaint against Antaeus' chancellor based on what Antaeus claims was a false charge. Now there is even more debate. It looks as if Antaeus' government will topple and the Trade Federation will get their spice. However, as with most political 'wars,' nothing is black and white. It has since become common knowledge that the chancellor of Antaeus was a member of the wealthiest family on the planet. That wealth came directly from the spice trade. Very little of the revenue actually benefited the population; most benefits the chancellor and his family. He used his wealth to buy votes, which is how he became chancellor in the first place. The Jedi are currently engaged in negotiations in an effort to force the Trade Federation to cooperate but the situation is becoming too violent and difficult for padawan Eden. This is the boy's second mission and he is too inexperienced. They will have their hands full getting the important factions on Antaeus to negotiate and the trade federation to pay enough to ensure infrastructure and educational systems on the planet. They will also push for a democratic government to be reestablished," he explained. The complete background to the situation on Antaeus was not critical to Eeth's mission, but every bit of information would help as it might be more difficult to get the kid out cleanly if the Trade Federation had already established a blockade by the time Eeth arrived in the system.

Seeing that the Knight had nothing more to add for now, Tarr carded his fingers on his desk calmly and said: "A copy of the full report and a profile on padawan Eden are inside the folder. There is also a data chip containing all the information we have about Antaeus. As Antaeus is a five-day-trip from here, we have a ship ready to depart at your earliest convenience. Do you have any questions?"

It was good that Eeth had mentally prepared himself to do his duty and accept whatever mission he was assigned because what he had just been asked to do was less than thrilling. His master had forced him to look after creche children more often than he cared to remember; in the past years, he had also taught any number of initiates and junior padawans. The teaching part, he had actually liked. He was perseverant even when a child had difficulties grasping a new skill, and he was usually rather successful. As for the rest… He simply did not know what to do with children. He did not understand their desire to play, instead of exercising, studying or making themselves useful; he did not understand their penchant for silliness, and their emotional needs made him uncomfortable.

Still, this was what he was asked to do, and he had to accept it. There was very little in the explanations he received that he had not already been aware of, having updated himself thoroughly on the galactic news during the past week and a half. But he did not let that on, just as he did not display any of his feelings about this mission. He merely said: "No, I do not have any questions. Thank you, Councillor Tarr. Knight Zecklaff."

He stood, bowed and left, checking his file for the type of ship he was being assigned - a fast, but rather old and small vessel that was waiting for him in hangar five. Half an hour later, he took off.

* * *

Exactly five days after that, a displeased, albeit ultimately resigned padawan Eden stood stiffly at his master's five. The knight sent to escort him back to the Temple was due to land soon, and they were here to greet him. Well, it wasn't exactly a greeting, it was Eden being handed over to a babysitter because his master and the Order deemed him unfit to continue their mission, let alone manage to get himself back to the Temple without an escort. He had news for them! Sure, he could concede that this mission might be out of his range of experience right now, but he could have easily stayed out of the way or be set to other mundane chores, and he was certainly able to get himself back to the Temple. Unfortunately, stating as much had earned him a stern reminder of his place, closely followed by a much sharper, more painful reminder when the former had failed to stop his protesting.

Given that the boy was not stupid, he had not attempted to talk his master out of this decision since, but it was clear that he was not happy about it. This was something that Master Jayside-Wex had tolerated to an extent; but he was not willing to be pushed any further. "Stop pouting," the man admonished, not needing to see the expression on the boy's face to know that this was exactly what he was doing.

Eden pursed his lips. He was an averagely built, dark-skinned boy with silver hair and dark brown eyes. Well, except for the left, which was the same silver as his hair and contained no pupil or iris. This congenital condition had rendered him completely blind in that eye since birth, but with time and training, he had learned to overcome most of the disadvantages and, for the most part, was unhindered. He did, however, sometimes miss things, and his depth perception could be off.

He ran a hand through his spiky hair and flicked his padawan's braid behind him. "Yes, Master" was all he said, as entering into a debate about that now was not something he wanted to begin with Eeth's arrival imminent.

Jay was not exactly happy at having to send Eden back, either. The boy had only been his padawan for a few months, and this was only their second mission together. He was aware that Eden had hurt feelings about this. He was also certain that the decision to send him back had been the only option, and he had explained that to his padawan patiently and at length. The boy would have to accept it. Jay did not know the person who was coming to pick Eden up; apparently, he was a very recent knight. Well, the trip was not likely to hold any dangers.

"Padawan, behave for Knight Koth as you would for me," he told Eden quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I do not want to hear that you have been any trouble to him when I come back. And I will be back with you soon; I promise that."

"I know you will, and I will," Eden replied to both statements. He was going to miss Jay but ultimately trusted him to know what was best, even if he didn't like it. And he didn't. He knew nothing about Knight Koth either, other than he was recently knighted. So when the ship touched down and the ramp lowered, he moved up to stand at his master's side, curiosity winning over formality for now.

Eeth waited for the ramp to lower, then strode towards the pair that was waiting for him, his back straight, his cloak billowing around him and his immaculate braids flowing down his back. He was a fairly tall and imposing figure, and he knew it. It couldn't hurt if the boy – Eden – developed a healthy dose of respect right from the start, he thought. Coming to an abrupt halt in front of the two Jedi, he bowed formally.

"Master Jayside-Wex," he said, his face and tone of voice entirely neutral. "Padawan Eden. I am Jedi Knight Eeth Koth."

The very first thing Eden noticed about this knight was that he appeared to be very stiff. His movements were purposeful and rigid. He looked up at the tall man. Two of his horns could be seen under his hood. As it was pulled back to greet them, Eden picked his species as Zabrak.

Jay replied with a formal bow, his padawan following suit as was expected. "Knight Koth," Jay said, his lip curling very slightly; a lot of newly-minted knights had what the older Jedi referred to as 'fresh polish' and Eeth was certainly no exception. "Eden is packed and ready to go. I have requested fresh provisions for your return trip." And true to his word, a loader droid could be seen toting a large crate of supplies towards the ramp of Eeth's ship. Jay wanted the two off-planet as soon as practical, which he knew was not going to be welcome news to the knight who had just emerged after five days stuck in a ship.

"Thank you," Eeth replied, not giving any indication of being displeased at Master Jayside-Wex's hurry. It was only logical for him to want his padawan to leave as soon as possible. And Eeth could deal with spaceship travel. He was not a fidgety human child, after all. He just hoped that the same was true for Padawan Eden!

"I have not been able to receive updates on the situation on Antaeus during my trip," he told Jay. "Has it deteriorated?"

"Yes," said Jay. "We are now dealing with terrorist attacks on a daily basis. The government's police action is taking on a more military character with each incident; this could fast turn into a full-blown war, in which case we will withdraw from the planet. But it has not reached that point yet, and we are still negotiating. However, doing so in the capital city makes us vulnerable."

Eeth nodded. The supply crate had been unloaded on his ship and a new power cell inserted into the hull, which meant that he could depart right away. "Very well," he said. "Let us leave, then. Padawan Eden?"

Understandably, Eden did not like the idea of his master being here when the potential for a full-scale war to break out was so high. That said, neither did he doubt the man's ability to both do his duty and get out safely. He looked up at Eeth when the knight spoke, and then turned to face his master who had knelt to embrace him. "Good luck with this. I hope that you and the others can prevent a war. These are a good people. The Trade Federation shouldn't get away with doing this to them," he spoke into the man's shoulder as he hugged him tightly.

"We will do all that is in our power to prevent that and fulfil our duty. Now it is time for you to fulfil yours." Jay pushed the boy to arm's length and met his eye, wanting to convey the sincerity behind his next words. "Don't worry; it will be how it will be. Behave for Knight Koth. I will be with you sooner than you know. May the Force be with you, my padawan," he told him and gave a warm smile. Before Eden had a chance to reply several blaster shots rang out behind them.

Immediately, Jay's saber was up, as was Eeth's. Eden's sprang to life a second behind.

"Knight Koth, get my apprentice to the ship and leave immediately," Jay ordered crisply. He did not like the idea of Eeth having to forego the standard pre-flight checks, but the danger was coming too close; if Eeth's ship was damaged, it would bring both a new knight and his own apprentice into unnecessary danger. Jay did not wait to see if Eeth had obeyed him, nor did he give further orders. Instead, he took off towards the source of the fire, hoping to neutralise it so the ship would not take damage before Eeth could get the shields up.

There was no question whether Eeth obeyed; he was trained to, it was correct procedure, and besides, he would have brought the boy to the ship and taken off as soon as possible even without being ordered to.

"Come," he said brusquely, steering the boy towards the ramp and following him, giving him cover against potential attacks. He banged the button to close the hatch and made for the cockpit. He, too, did not like the idea of having to take off without any pre-flight checks, especially since a new power cell had been installed and things had been known to go wrong with that. But, like Jay, he knew that the best course of action right now was to get his shields up, leave and take care of the rest later. Therefore, he pointed Eden to the co-pilot's seat and got to work doing just that.

Like Eeth, Eden had no problem with the concept of obedience. He did, however, take issue with leaving while his master ran towards blaster bolts. But there was nothing for it: out of the three Jedi here, his master was the most experienced, and it was likely he would simply be in the way should he try to assist him. Then there was Eeth. The man's order to 'come' had been uttered in a manner that gave him no room to move. It was an order, and it was a clear one. Thus, less than a minute later, he was strapping himself into the co-pilot's seat. Having just turned eleven barely a week ago, Eden had not yet qualified for flight training, as this did not usually happen until a padawan was at least thirteen years old. There were, of course, exceptions. Some masters had disabilities, similar or worse than his own, and required their apprentices to learn this skill as soon as practical. Then there were some apprentices – he could think of a few – who even at a young age possessed a maturity beyond their years. There were always exceptions to the rule. Eden was not one of them. Jay had begun teaching him the basics simply due to curiosity on the boy's part, but this was hardly enough to be of any assistance to Eeth right now.

He watched silently as the knight's fingers glided from switches to buttons and a host of lights surrounding a schematic of their ship began illuminating sections. Their shields were going up. A lever lowered from a hatch in the roof and a moment later a stick extended from the centre console. Eden knew that these two levers controlled elevation and thrust. The padawan looked through the side port window. He could see red bolts being rebounded by their forward shields, but their rear was out of his line of sight. Then, nothing. The bolts stopped. The boy looked to Eeth. Had his master neutralised the threat? Was their ship damaged? He didn't know

At this moment, Eeth took off, taking advantage of the fact that Master Jayside-Wex seemed to have drawn the attackers away from their location.

Since he had had no time to check the newly-installed power cell, he had set the controls to drawing power from the emergency power circuit for take-off. That was sufficient to take them into orbit and keep them there for a while, or for an interplanetary flight, or, in the worst case, an emergency landing. For interstellar travel, however, he needed access to the new power cell, and that was what he tried to establish as soon as they had reached the planet's orbit. Immediately, a number of red lights started flashing in warning. Eeth frowned and checked the controls. He tried to access the power cell manually, but to no avail.

"I cannot get us out of orbit," he said. "Either the new power cell is not working or there is some kind of malfunction. If the issue is only with the power cell, we have a reserve one in our cargo bay that should see us to Coruscant. If it is a malfunction, we will need to land to repair it. I will try to find out what is wrong. You stay here. If there is any incoming communication, call me."

He made for the ship's rear where a hatch located in the corridor allowed for access to the engine and power controls. What he saw did not look good. Apparently, the droids on Antaeus' spaceport had installed a defective power cell that had fried any number of circuits in his attempt to use it. Replacing it with the reserve would not repair the damage; he would have to be on the ground, with the engines powered off, to do so. And he might need spare parts.

He returned to the cockpit, scowling. "This is very inconvenient," he told Eden. "The new power cell damaged our ship. Possibly, there was some pre-existing damage that caused the security systems to fail. The ship is fairly old. In any case, this leaves us few options. Our energy is only sufficient for interplanetary travel or for landing somewhere on Antaeus."

He called up a map of the system according to which Antaeus had two moons. There were three other planets in orbit around the sun. "Do you know anything about the system?" he asked Eden curtly while searching for information in the files. "At first glance, none of these moons and planets look inhabitable."

"They aren't," Eden replied. "The temperature is too cold, and the atmosphere won't work." He paused, giving Eeth a once over. "Well, at least not for me. I don't know much about the exact physiology of a Zabrak, but I assume you're no Kel Dor."

"I was afraid so," Eeth said curtly.

The boy slumped into his seat, unsure how to help here. And then it hit him. "Wait, what about here?" He pointed to a section of land that lay on the outskirts of Antaeus' capital region. "The area is mostly communities who don't wish to be involved in the city or their dealings with the Republic. They're native inhabitants," he explained.

Eeth scrutinised the area Eden had pointed out and calculated the distance to the fighting zone. Then he shook his head.

"Too close to the city," he decided. "They might not want to be involved, but if a war breaks out, they might very well become involved nonetheless."

He called up a map of the planet from the database and had the planet's holo image rotate in front of them. He needed an area that was as far as possible from the capital city, but still likely to offer basic wiring components and tools.

"Here," he said after a moment's thought, pointing to a place nearly halfway around the planet from the capital: a tiny band of islands in a vast ocean. A caption that said "Niwago Islands" lit up. Eeth called up the relevant entry from the database. The Niwago Islands were tropical, hosted a number of fishing communities, and there was a port for speeders and ships on the main island of Auwago. It also had a landing pad large enough for their spaceship. The islands were part of the general political structure of the planet, but neither economically nor strategically important. The war was not likely to arrive there all too soon. "I will get us around the planet and land there," Eeth decided. "I will announce ourselves as a stranded courier vessel in need of repairs. No need to attract unnecessary attention from the Trade Federation."

Eden personally thought it was overkill that the Niwago Islands were halfway around the planet, not that he said as much. Instead, he merely shrugged. It wouldn't take them long to get there, not even with a busted-ass ship.

Sure enough, an hour later, they had obtained clearance from Auwago under a false identity, and Eeth was prepping the ship to land. The pair had not spoken much during the trip. It didn't bother Eden. He guessed that Eeth was busy concentrating on their ship and surrounds, and he was trying to do the same. For an eleven-year-old boy, he was gifted at most Force work, especially so at sensing and rebounding projectiles with his weapon. His teachers had commented that his abilities had most likely been born from necessity, as most Jedi with disabilities learned how to compensate using the Force without even realising it. His physical skills and fitness, on the other hand, needed work. His master had been quick to recognise this, and as a result, the boy had improved a little over the months since he'd been apprenticed, but workouts were certainly not his favourite activity.

He glanced over at the Zabrak Knight. The man was huge compared to himself, both in height and bulk. He doubted that the man studied Soresu as he and Jay did; he probably specialised in a more energetic form of lightsaber combat. That thought made him wince a bit. Then again, maybe Eeth wouldn't know what to expect from him? He brightened as another thought hit him: maybe the knight wouldn't even know about classwork or assign him any. It was possible that he would have a five-day vacation here!

As it turned out, nothing could be further from the truth…


	2. Chapter 2

Eden unbuckled his restraints and stood as the ship came to a dead stop at the port of Mauwag in the Niwago Islands. He had not bothered to stow his pack, so he simply hefted it over his shoulder and waited for instructions.

"Alright," said Eeth, rising from his seat. "We will change into civilian clothes, register our ship with the port authorities and find out whether this place offers any supplies."

They quickly found that, as he had suspected, the port city of Mauwag indeed had some shops that sold spare parts for speeders and ships, most of them second-hand. Since he had some tools and supplies aboard their spaceship, Eeth considered it likely that he would get the repairs done. He took Eden back to the ship and sent a message to the Temple informing the Council of their status and location. Then he told Eden: "I will now perform a first assessment of the damage and the repairs that will be needed. While I do so, attend to your studies. Afterwards, we will go into town, eat and check out the stores." He was also going to put in a workout that afternoon, but saw no need to mention this; he assumed that this was self-understood.

So much for that. Eden stared at him for a moment. Sure, class work wasn't the end of the universe, but he'd have much preferred it if Eeth had not known to assign him tasks. Besides, the man had barely been knighted for two weeks. Or perhaps that was going to be his downfall? After all, the knight would remember what it was like to be eleven better than his fifty-year-old master. That thought process whizzed through the kid's mind in a flash.

Meanwhile, his body had responded for him. He pulled the datapad from his pack and tossed it onto a cushion where he planned to sit and work. Before he sat down, another thought occurred to him. "Hey, I could help you instead. I could write down things that need fixing as you find them?" he suggested, the idea of getting out of school work worth it to him.

Eeth recognised the attempt to get out of class work for what it was. Why anybody would want to do so eluded him, but he had long since learned that not everyone was as diligent as he was. "I am perfectly capable of remembering these things without anyone writing them down," he said firmly. "You attend to your studies. Do you have a schedule for your school work? What lessons do you need to work on next?" It had occurred to him that it might be a good idea to check this, else the padawan in his care might feel tempted to slack off and sell him old work as new.

Eden wouldn't try that; the boy did not hate class work enough to warrant such a level of scheming, as ingenious as he might have thought it. He did, however, frown slightly at being told he was not needed and even more so at Eeth's questions. "I do. Next, I work on Mandalorian," he answered, being as nondescript as possible. After all, this wasn't something his babysitter need concern himself with, at least not in his opinion; he was eleven years old and well able to complete his work without being monitored.

"You need to be more specific than that," Eeth said. "After all, it will be my responsibility to check your progress and help you with any questions you might have. Fortunately, my Mandalorian is adequate."

"This is for five days," Eden replied evenly. He thought that Eeth's comments on checking his progress were, well… Okay, so maybe valid, but equally unappreciated. "You might not want my help, but I'm sure I can manage my workload," he said confidently and sat on the cushion to begin.

Eeth's face darkened. "This might be for five days, or considerably longer depending on how the repairs go," he said coolly. "But even if it was only for five hours, I am both your superior and responsible for you, and I take my responsibilities seriously. I did not doubt your ability to manage your workload but, since I have hardly known you for a couple of hours, I would still like to know what you are supposed to be doing. Now tell me. Specifically."

Eden's jaw squared, and he stood from his cushion to continue a conversation that he deemed utterly unnecessary. Eeth was his superior, though, so despite thinking him a tad over the top, he held up his datapad for the man to take. "My lessons are straightforward and listed on the index, as is my progress if you must know."

"I do," Eeth said, unmoved. He had not lied when he had said that he took his responsibility seriously. He also wanted to establish right from the outset that he was in charge. He checked the list of assignments and Eden's status, nodded and handed him back his datapad. "If you need help, I'll be in the engine room, or possibly in the cable shaft," he said. "Come and get me if necessary, or if there is any kind of alert or incoming communication."

The boy barely refrained from rolling his eyes. He did not need help with his work, nor should Eeth put his duty to get them out of here on hold for the possibility that he might need said 'help'. Still, Eden felt compelled to ask: "How the Force are you going to fit in the cable shaft?"

"I fit into the main shaft," Eeth said, "at least on this type of ship. From there, I have access to all lateral shafts. It will be a tight fit, though, and I'd rather do without it." He turned to leave when a thought occurred to him. "Should I need a smaller person to help me out," he said somewhat stiffly, "I will ask you." With that, he made his way to the engine room.

Despite thinking Eeth might need a tin of lube and a shoehorn, the boy did not question him further; Eeth certainly knew a lot more about spaceships than he did, after all. In fact, Eden didn't even know how to open the hatch! It was then that a thought occurred to him. He didn't know anything at all about spaceships; perhaps he ought to try working some of this out on his own? It was not like researching this ship and figuring out how to do simple things like open the hatch or engage their shields would do any harm, and it certainly wasn't what he considered a waste of his time. Eeth had told him to do his class work. Well, he needed to start a math assignment. Perhaps he would use the design of this ship as his subject? Eden thought this a brilliant idea. He downloaded the schematic of their ship to his pad and started working over the design.

The section Eeth was working in was on the other side, so Eden made a conscious effort to keep away from anything in that vicinity lest he accidentally injure the man. Having to explain that he squashed Knight Koth because he was fiddling around with the mechanics was not a discussion he could even fathom having. It didn't take him long before he had the manual up also and had located the mechanism used to open and close the hatch. Curious, he stood and palmed the release button. Low and behold the door opened. "Brilliant!" It wasn't particularly cold or hot outside, and the air smelled salty. He sat on the step, rested the pad on his lap and leaned into the hatch frame to record his findings.

Unaware of Eden's explorations, Eeth sent a repair droid to disconnect the defective power cell. As he inspected it, the cause of the error became clear immediately: it had been the wrong type, too powerful for this starship. Normally, that should have caused an alarm to go off, but that had not happened because a fuse had blown. Eeth discovered a small area of damage on the outer hull, probably caused by the asteroid belt that surrounded this system on his trip to Antaeus. It had led to the deactivation of a few circuits. He would have detected this before take-off, had he had the time for the customary pre-flight checks. Well, this could not be helped right now. He needed to replace several fuses first and then find out whether the cable circuits were still intact.

He was just going to browse through the collection of spare parts he had found in the engine room closets when a beep alerted him to the fact that the hatch had been opened. Frowning, he went to investigate.

"This," he said sternly when he found Eden sitting in the open hatch, "does not look as if you are doing your Mandalorian homework. Who told you to open the hatch?"

"That's because this is not Mandalorian, it's math," Eden replied, gesturing to the schematic on his pad. Having been raised in the Temple, respect and courtesy were ingrained in the boy. Whether or not he always chose to implement them, however, was another matter entirely. Fortunately, the stern tone was not lost on the kid, so he stood out of formality and made a show of looking left then right. "Unless your sense of the Force is impaired, you would know that nobody could have told me to open the hatch. It's just us here," he replied, his expression slightly patronising.

Eeth's eyes narrowed. "I do not care for your impertinent tone of voice," he snapped. "You will not open the hatch without permission. Why does your math assignment require you to wander around the ship, anyway? And why are you working on math now when the assignment on your schedule was on Mandalorian?"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions," Eden thought aloud, but he knew that continuing to have an attitude after being called on it was probably pushing it. Even if Eeth was a new knight, he was still a knight, and a grumpy knight to boot.

"Okay, I won't open the hatch without permission again. As for math," he shrugged. "I was curious about how the ship worked. I knew I had a math assignment coming up on the list, so I decided to base it on this ship. That way I got to learn about how things worked. Mandalorian will not run away on me. It's still there. See for yourself."

"Is that how your master handles things with you?" Eeth asked evenly. "You get to decide what to do, how to do it and where to do it?" He was not pleased with Eden, but at the same time, he could not realistically expect the boy to stick to rules that he had not known so far. Having acquired quite an impressive amount of teaching experience, Eeth was no stranger to punishing students, but he also knew not to do so unless he was absolutely certain that the punishment was deserved.

Was that how his master handled him? Force, no, but then again, Eeth was not Jay. Eden contemplated that for a moment before deciding that lying wasn't in his best interest. Firstly, it wasn't his style, and secondly, if his master ever found out he'd be in for one hell of a belting. He suddenly began to wonder if being such a smartass had been wise. "Well. No, I'm not permitted to decide how and when I do my work," the boy admitted, because what else could he say? Being evasive had seemed to tick Eeth off more, and lying was out of the question. Eden also knew that his master had told him to treat Eeth with the same respect he gave to him, so, if Eeth made so much as a passing comment that his behaviour had been unacceptable, he was going to be in for it.

"Alright," Eeth said brusquely. "Bend over and touch your toes." Since he had received the task of taking charge of a junior padawan, he had taken precautions. And therefore, he now had a paddle tucked into his belt, hidden from view by his civilian shirt.

Eden blinked, and then he tried to force a swallow as for some reason his mouth suddenly felt drier than a sand hut on Tatooine. A jolt of fear caught him off guard. He was fast to cover it, but probably not fast enough that it would have escaped Eeth's notice. Of all the reactions he anticipated from the knight, this was the least expected. Sure, had he tried to pull any attitude on Jay, he would have expected this, but not from Eeth. While his brain was still busy registering the shock, his body had begun to obey. Another advantage of being a Temple-raised child was that there was no confusion whatsoever on Eden's part about what was about to go down, although he was silently thankful that his trousers weren't. He kept up a brave face, turned side on and bent over. He wasn't a particularly flexible kid, so this position wasn't comfortable. He had to bend his knees a little, but he managed to grab the toes of his boots.

Eeth noticed that Eden had trouble touching his toes, which was unusual for a junior padawan; they usually worked out a lot and both their levels of strength and agility were well beyond those of average children. Well, he could see about that during their workout after lunch. For now, he pulled out the small paddle and said: "I am going to allow you to keep your trousers up this time. I am not going to be so lenient the next time." Then he brought the paddle down sharply right onto the centre of Eden's bottom. Half a dozen solid swats should do, for a start, he decided; his work in the creche had taught him that it would not do to be too harsh for small infractions, else there was not enough room to up the ante for larger infractions

Jay, too, had noticed that Eden had somehow managed to neglect his physical training. It was something they were working on correcting, not that Eden wanted this to become common knowledge. He certainly didn't enjoy it. His superior ability to wield the Force had made it easier for him to win sparring matches and had facilitated physical activities, but this had started to change dramatically since becoming a padawan.

He tightened up as he sensed Eeth's arm rise. He had promised himself that, no matter how much this hurt, he wasn't going to cry or make a sound. No way! "Oww!" he gasped out of surprise. Eden had expected to be met with a hand. Sure, it wasn't going to be a soft or gentle hand, but he was sure as hell not expecting it to feel like a damn board! Biting his lip to keep from crying out a second time, he held his breath, pursed his lips and did his damnedest to keep his hands on his boots.

Eeth slowly and methodically dealt out six hard, but measured swats. He had learned, by now, that humans did not have the same pain tolerance that Zabrak had and that a youngling's age needed to be taken into consideration, besides the severity of the transgression. At the same time, he believed that a token spanking would achieve nothing. It had to hurt in order to have any effect. Eeth not only wanted to demonstrate to Eden in no uncertain terms that his behaviour had been unacceptable, he also wanted to make clear who was in charge. It would not do for Eden to think that he would get away with things that his master would never allow. All this reflected in the force of the swats that was considerable, but not quite as bad as Eeth could have made it.

With each swat, Eden winced, his ass unconsciously inching that tiny bit further away from Eeth's swing. When the last couple landed, what was supposed to be a calm, controlled breath out turned into something that sounded more like a hiss. The last drew a pained grunt. Okay, so that had not been the worst punishment of his life, but he was sure that it was, at the very least, on par with whatever Jay would have meted out. His ass was burning, and he was silently relieved when after six swats no more were forthcoming. Eden wasn't a prideful sort, nor was he usually hell-bent on toughing this sort of thing out, but for some reason, he did not want Eeth to know that his ass stung like a sonofabitch right now. So, he stood stiffly and shoved both hands into his pockets. He was trying to keep a casual expression but the tense way in which is eyes squinted and the stiffness of his jaw gave him away. It had hurt. It was then that he noticed the paddle. Where the Force had that come from? he thought. At least he now had an explanation for the sharp sound that each swat had made, and the pain that followed it.

"You are now going to go back to the galley and resume your Mandalorian assignment," Eeth said firmly. "If you feel you need to work on something else, in a different place or in a different manner than we agreed upon, you come and ask. But keep those questions to a minimum. From what I have seen so far, the repairs will not be difficult, but tedious. The more interruptions there are, the longer we will be stuck here. Now get back to work. I will fetch you in an hour or so to leave the ship and have lunch at the harbour."

Usually, Jay would offer some comfort or reassurance that despite just having had to hand him his ass, showed he'd only done it because he cared; it was his duty. Apparently, this was not the way knight Koth operated. Then again, Eden hadn't exactly been open to or inviting such comforts. He watched with a slight look of incredulity on his face as Eeth tucked the paddle back into his belt. Was he planning to carry that thing around with him the entire time they were together? It looked that way to Eden. It was at this point that he had a sudden realisation: if the man knew to come in 'packing heat', he probably knew a bit more about padawans than the boy had given him credit for. Either that, or he was uber strict with zero tolerance for bullshit. Both seemed likely to Eden as he noted the ominous expression on the man's face. "Yes, Sir," he said in way of compliance and did as instructed.

The next hour was spent doing his Mandalorian assignment, but he was also distracted. It was hard not to be when his ass still hurt and he was switching positions every ten minutes. By the time the hour was up, the sting had faded significantly, but he still knew about it. He was pretty sure that hearing about this would go over like a fart in church with his master. Then again Jay was full of surprises; just when Eden expected him to hit the roof, he came out with some comment about being a boy and testing boundaries.

Not one to hold a grudge, Eden stood as Eeth entered, closed his pad and tossed it onto the table. "Time to eat?"

Eeth nodded. "Yes," he said. "Once we have done that, we will explore this town and the shops at the waterfront together. It might save time to send you to run errands, should I discover the need for a tool or component. Therefore, pay attention to what is where. Fortunately, the local population speaks Basic. That makes our dealings easier."

"I do not need to be reminded to pay attention. I'm not a youngling," Eden felt compelled to remind him in kind.

"You," said Eeth somewhat severely, "are an eleven-year-old junior padawan with very little mission experience. When I give you instructions, mind them. There is no need to talk back." After all, he could not have the boy walking all over him!

"And you," said Eden with equal severity, "are a twenty-two-year-old knight with ZERO mission experience in that role. I don't need to be treated like a youngling."

Eeth was not about to let an eleven-year-old boy make fun of him, let alone give him instructions. On the other hand, from his teaching experience, he was aware that Eden knew neither him nor his expectations. He needed to make them clear and give the boy a chance to adapt to them before he could enforce his boundaries. Therefore, he stepped up to Eden, took his ear in a firm grip and pulled him up close, glaring at him.

"That was entirely uncalled for," he said sternly. "You will not give me cheek and you will certainly not tell me what to do. I doubt that your master tolerates such behaviour. I certainly do not. The next time you try that, there will be consequences. Am I clear?"

It was all Eden could do not to yelp at the grip Eeth had on his ear; it burned! His eyes squinted, and his head tilted sideways to lessen the pain. He managed to meet Eeth's gaze despite his discomfort and did what any sane eleven-year-old would do in this situation, he acquiesced. "Yes, Sir." He didn't like it. As far as Eden was concerned his comment had been entirely called for. Okay, okay, so it was also a touch on the disrespectful side, but he wasn't in any position to start splitting hairs.

Eeth gave a curt nod and let go of Eden's ear. "Let us go, then," he said.

* * *

The clouds were gone and the sun was beating down when they left the ship; it was considerably hotter than it had been when Eden had opened the hatch. Eeth did not mind. He came from a desert species, after all. And Eden, with his chocolate-coloured skin, did not look as if he needed much sun protection either.

There was a bunch of small outdoor restaurants and food stalls right next to the speeder port which, in turn, was right next to the harbour. The sitting areas were shaded by palm trees and moderately crowded. It looked rather inviting. "Most of the food seems to involve fish, fruit and vegetables," Eeth said, scanning a few menus. "What would you like to have?"

Eden had never cared much about what he ate, so he replied after barely a glance at the menu. "Fish with gohbar rice, please." Eden wasn't keen on the vegetables. In his opinion, they generally tasted bland. Entirely unwilling to enter another test of wills with Eeth, Eden made sure that he had committed the directions here to memory just in case he was sent back to get food on his own at some stage.

Eeth ordered a steamed local vegetable to go with Eden's order as a matter of principle, and a whole grilled fish on a bed of seaweed for himself. They were served a tropical fruit cocktail along with their food, which was delicious."I see we will not starve," Eeth remarked, "nor will we have to rely on spaceship food." Which was a huge advantage since spaceship food tended to be bland and uninviting.

After lunch, they made a tour of the town which was not very large and mainly stretched along the waterfront. The shops did not have as many supplies and spare parts on offer as Eeth would have hoped. Hardly anything went beyond the components he had on board. That was somewhat disappointing. He would have to hope that there was nothing broken that he could not fix. In its current state, the ship was not going anywhere. The reserve power circuit was still functional, but it might not last them for another take-off, flight and landing unless the destination was very close-by.

"I will try to assess how long the repairs will take by tomorrow morning," Eeth told Eden. "If it is going to take longer than a day or two, it might be better for us to look for lodgings in town. The reserve power is low and I would rather not waste it on ventilation, lights and other needs."

"Makes sense," Eden replied. He walked by Eeth's side for a while before his thought process prompted him to ask: "Is saving a single ship really worth waiting around all this time?" Eden couldn't quite grasp why they were not contacting the Temple and requesting another ship. They had hundreds of them, after all. He wasn't particularly looking forward to doing more class work, which he assumed was going to fill a lot of his time from what he had gathered, but he could think of worse things with which to fill his time.

"It is," Eeth replied. "Sending another ship would cost a lot of resources, including the pilot who would have to fly it. He would need five days to make it here, anyway. Besides, the Temple would prefer us to bring this ship back because ships are expensive. As long as we are in this remote place, with nobody knowing of our whereabouts, we are in no danger. In the unlikely event that I do not manage to repair the ship, we might have to wait for your master to be dispatched home. He could pick us up here which would be fairly ironic. But the important thing was to remove you from the danger zone, and that, at least, I could accomplish."


	3. Chapter 3

When they had arrived back at the ship in the early afternoon, Eeth said: "I would like to continue my assessment of the damage now. In an hour or two, I should know what the extent of the necessary repair work will be. We can decide on finding lodgings in town then, and we will have a workout. Until then, please continue with your school work."

Eden did not take issue with his explanation, nor did he care much about the class work. Sure, classwork would suck, but there were worse things he could be doing. 'Worse things' were apparently to come, though, as they would also be doing a workout. Well, there wasn't much he could do about that. He'd learned as much from Jay, after all. Still, he was not thrilled at the prospect.

"Okay," he replied and went to find his datapad. Next up on his list was galactic astronomy, the specific system in question being 'Hert.' Hert had recently discovered that one of its planets, Boras, no longer qualified as a planet. Thus the instructor, who had a sense of humour, requested that her students write a letter to Boras. This letter was to detail what the neighbouring planets might say to Boras should they be asked about its planetary demotion. Eden grinned and set to writing.

Eeth, to his displeasure, discovered that one circuit had blown completely and fried everything in the way. It would take a long time to repair. Most of it was going to be tedious routine work, but what was worse was that this incident had caused a leak in the cryonic acid tank. The ship was old and seriously lacking in safety systems. The leak could easily be mended, but he had no supply of cryonic acid which was needed to cool the power cell and prevent excessive loss of energy. On any spaceport, this would not have been a problem, but here, it might well be. He would have to find out.

Having thus inventoried the damage, he made his way to Eden and was pleased to find out that the boy had just concluded an astronomy project and had apparently done a decent job of it. Eeth secretly found the assignment a little silly but he did not voice his thoughts.

Eden, on the other hand, found the assignment a welcome reprieve from the typical monotony offered by that particular class. He liked that teacher; she seemed to know her stuff and was fun. His reply, too, had made the boy laugh. He'd honestly enjoyed writing it, but wasn't surprised when Eeth simply nodded and laid his pad aside. Eeth seemed to lack a sense of humour, he'd noticed.

"Let us go down the waterfront to an empty area of the beach and have a workout there," Eeth said to Eden. "Did you bring swimming gear?"

Ordinarily, the prospect of a workout would be something Eden tried to get out of, but considering the amount of sitting around and classwork he'd done over the last twelve hours, he was feeling a bit restless. Restlessness was not generally a problem for him, but he was concerned for his master and out of his depth with this part of their mission. He had no idea about starships. This was not simple negotiations as their last couple of missions had been, this was quite hands on. "Temple standard briefs," he announced, his nose wrinkling. The kid didn't care, not really; he would have gone in naked as long as there weren't parasites in the water. That idea made him shudder. "I'm not big on swimming."

"Well, then that is a skill that you need to improve," Eeth remarked dryly. "Pack your briefs and a towel." He had already inquired during lunch whether the sea was safe to swim in, and it was. It was also very inviting. The beaches were totally deserted; given that this planet was on the Outer Rim and these islands were far removed from everywhere else on the planet, they were not a tourist destination. A few local children were playing in the water and there were fishing boats to be seen, but it was fairly easy to find a secluded cove where they were not going to be watched.

"We will work out with our sabers first and then go swimming," Eeth told Eden, shedding his cloak and tunic. "But before we start, we will need to warm up." For this, he made use of their environment. He had Eden and himself run along the sandy beach and climb the palm trees, carefully watching the boy to figure out his strengths and weaknesses.

All right, so Eden had occasionally entertained ways in which he might meet his demise as a Jedi. Usually, it was being taken down by a Sith Lord during some epic battle or saving a fleet of civilians by forfeiting his own life for the greater good. 'Death by workout,' however, had not made his top five. Now it would seem that he had been wrong, oh, so wrong. He struggled up and down the dunes, his dexterity average thanks to his ability to wield the Force, but his cardiovascular fitness strained. Scaling the palm tree was anything but graceful, and by the second time, he barely managed to save his junk from being mashed off as he skidded down the trunk. Fuck. This was not at all something he enjoyed, but thus far he had kept at it. After all, he did not know Eeth that well and what he did know of him had scared the boy into giving at least a bit of an effort before complaining.

By the time Eden was breathing hard and having obvious trouble keeping up, Eeth had not even broken a sweat. "Apparently," Eeth told the boy, "your strength and endurance need improvement. Swimming will be good for that. But saber work first. What form are you working on with your master?"

"Apparently," the boy shot back, "your powers of observation do not." It was a tad on the cheeky side he knew, but then again, he wasn't exactly feeling great right now.

Eeth just raised an eyebrow at the remark, but did not comment. After all, he had been told several times before that he was good at identifying his students' strengths and weaknesses. He had also been told that he had a distinct tendency to focus exclusively on the weaknesses, which some students might find hard to deal with. Eeth did not quite see the point here. What good was there in focussing on things that did not need improvement?

"Soresu," Eden said when his next breath allowed for coherent speech. This, the third form of lightsaber combat, suited him well as it focused on maintaining one's energy and, ultimately, outlasting an opponent. Eden was very good at this. His lack of sight in one eye had forced him into strengthening his Force awareness to compensate, which made him hard to hit, well, at least by droids. His master seemed to nail him often enough. Then again, his master also practiced Soresu.

"I normally use Ataru," Eeth told Eden. "I can teach Soresu if need be, but certainly not as well as your master can. Therefore, what I will do in the following days is to teach you how to use Soresu in order to defend yourself against an opponent who uses Ataru, and how to use this opponent's attacks to your advantage. Do you have any experience with that?"

Figures, Eden thought upon hearing that Eeth practiced Ataru. "I have fought Ataru users in the crèche before. There were lots of kids who chose it, after all." Eden did not want to do this. Ataru was an aggressive, fast-paced form characterised by Force-assisted somersaults, leaping and quick, powerful strikes that seemed to come at you from every direction all at once! The few times Eden had tried Ataru, it had worn him out. The form required far too much energy, in his opinion.

Had Eeth been privy to Eden's thoughts, he would have scoffed at the boy's dislike of fighting Ataru users. Whatever form Eden ended up employing as a Jedi Knight, he would need to become proficient at dealing with various forms of lightsaber combat. Given the limited amount of time that they were going to work together, Eeth thought that it would make sense to teach Eden those things that he himself knew best.

Completely ignoring the boy's open lack of enthusiasm, he told him to take a ready stance. "I will come at you with a basic Ataru attack sequence," he said. "You block, and block only."

Eden met the man with a barely concealed snort as he took up a ready stance and ignited his blade. He remembered all too well what it was like defending himself against his Ataru-using initiate peers and had no delusions that he'd be getting in any attacks against a knight. Still, as the white glow of his weapon lit up before him, he focused on the crystal inside; if he died here, it would be a noble death, he told himself for dramatic effect.

Of course, Eeth had no intention of killing anyone. He did aim at putting Eden through his paces, though. Since he did not know the boy's level of skill and speed, he started with a standard attack sequence at medium speed. If Eden blocked it, which Eeth expected him to be able to do, he would follow up with a different sequence. The goal was to see what Eden had learned so far, but also to test his tenacity

Having a superior grasp on the Force for an eleven-year-old, Eden was able to block the first few attack sequences neatly and without much trouble. It wasn't until these attacks grew far more aggressive and aerial that the boy began to really work. Ten minutes into their match, the boy was frowning deeply, his usual sense of calm slowly being replaced with frustration; he expected Eeth to best him, but not by this much! "Enough already," he demanded, his saber held down and to the side in the universal sign of peace.

So much for tenacity. Eeth gave him a glare so fierce that it would have the average initiate running and snapped: "No, this is not enough already. I doubt that this is how it works with your master, and it certainly does not with me. Try this again, and I will have you climb trees for the rest of this workout. If you are fighting a real-life opponent, he will certainly not back off just because you decide you have had enough. So. Your skill at blocking my attacks is adequate, but you cannot keep doing that indefinitely. Do you have any strategies for gaining the upper hand or ending the fight in other ways?"

Eden snorted at the threat, then sobered. What if Eeth was actually serious? He had no idea how long the man planned to spend on this workout, but spending the rest of that time climbing up and down palm trees was certainly going to be worse. His blade flicked up, the gesture clearly irritated. "Well, you told me to block only," he said. Thinking that a tad petulant, he added: "Mostly I wait for my opponent to tire a bit before I start attacking. That isn't happening with you." It didn't happen with Jay either, but he wasn't sure what else to say.

"Yes, I had told you to block only," Eeth said coolly, "and when I do that, I mean for you to continue until I tell you to stop, not until you feel like it. Of course I would not tire out after ten minutes. There are ways to force an Ataru opponent to tire out faster than you do, though, and as a Soresu user, it is vital to employ them."

Eden's gaze lowered at the slight reprimand, but only for a second. He had not completely lost his shit over this, after all. Well, at least he had gotten to stop for a moment even if it was only going to work once. He blew out a sigh at seeing that he wasn't going to get out of this workout and resigned himself to the fact that he would just have to endure.

Eeth started to explain to Eden how to use defensive moves in order to force his opponent into counterattack sequences that cost a lot of energy. It was a matter of precision, and that was not as easy as it seemed, especially in the sand. Eden's good sense of Force control would help him with it, but it also required a high amount of body control.

What Eeth said made sense. Eden's master had said similar many times but those tactics weren't necessary often amongst his peers as they wore out a lot faster than a knight or master. Still, he guessed he should have said as much when asked. Anyway, he did not mind the break to stop and talk. He wondered: if he kept the man talking, would it shorten their workout? It was worth a try. "So, you expect me to implement all of that without losing focus on my defense or footing AND I need to manage it all with an ass crack full of sand?"

"Yes," said Eeth curtly and resumed his attack. He had recognised the question for what it was: an attempt to keep him talking, instead of fighting, and he was not going to encourage that. He also considerably increased the speed behind his attack now that he had seen that Eden could hold his own, at least where defensive moves were concerned. Only now he started rapping out instructions.

Eden couldn't win a trick here.

Thankfully, his reliance on and trust in the Force kicked in and he was just fast enough to defend when Eeth attacked. At each instruction he gave a curt nod, but he didn't have time for much else; Eeth was coming in hard and fast. He kept his movements succinct and did his best to follow instructions while not being forced into losing too much ground. That was mostly successful as he was actually listening and doing as the man said, except when he was forced to roll which left him with sand in his tunic, pants and just about every conceivable crevice. He looked like a lamington and was not at all comfortable, not that his comfort was something he guessed was important here. More infuriating was that Eeth did not seem to be having nearly as much trouble with this, nor did he look as disheveled.

Eeth had been forced at a very early age to acquire an unusually high amount of mental discipline in order to survive. In fact, his mental discipline was so impressive that it had brought the Jedi Council to accept him into the Order at the age of four, which was normally considered far too old. Ever since, he had worked extremely hard at his sparring skills – and every other area of his training, really – with the result that his physical condition was excellent. No eleven-year-old in the Temple was going to pose a challenge for him, but then, that was hardly the point. Eeth kept up the match, but he was careful not to become faster than Eden could just about handle. He had judged the boy as someone who, in his workouts at least, did not leave his comfort zone willingly, but who begrudgingly did so when forced. And that was what Eeth did.

Eden wanted badly to stop, but each time he considered losing his temper he recalled Eeth's threat and managed to push through. By the time he was finally allowed to stop, the kid was a sweaty, sandy, uncomfortable mess. He wanted nothing more than to go back to their ship, shower, change into fresh clothing and never again set foot on a beach as long as he lived. He was going to have to come up with something. Perhaps if he feigned an illness, or maybe broke a leg? Mmm that latter was probably a little drastic, but it was how he felt right now. Instead, he settled for glaring at the man, trying to will him into saying they could go back to the ship.

"And now," Eeth said in perfect calm, shaking a little sand off his trouser legs, "we go swimming. Change into your briefs, please."

There were no change rooms, of course, but nor was there anywhere near who could see them, in case Eden was on the bashful side.

"Do we have to? I am tired and sore. I really don't think swimming is going to improve on that," he said flatly.

"If you are tired and sore after that workout, you need to improve your physical condition," Eeth said equally flatly. "Swimming is going to help with that. If you are still sore when we are done, we can do something about it afterwards. Now do what I told you. And I would really appreciate it if you dispensed with the backtalk."

"That wasn't backtalk, it was a question," Eden pointed out, unaware of the irony buried in that very statement. Still, he obeyed, shucking his tunic and pants into the sand and pulling a pair of temple issue briefs from the bag. Eden was not the bashful sort, but he was mindful of the fact that nudity offended some beings. Thus, he glanced left, right and behind himself before pulling his underwear off and changing. The briefs he wore were white, making the colour of his skin stand out in contrast, not that he cared what he looked like. All he cared about right now was managing to get through this workout. It was quite possibly the hardest he'd worked physically in a while. Sure, Jay worked him hard when they were at the Temple, especially so given that it was an area in which he needed to improve, but the sand was new, and swimming was not something they did often. He glanced down the beach as Eeth changed, then met the man's eye. He didn't want to do this. Why he wasn't allowed to find his own way back to the Temple was beyond him. Instead, he had been assigned to this man who was busting his balls.

Of course, the Council would never have fathomed leaving an eleven-year-old to his own devices; and Eeth had been specifically instructed to continue the boy's training if and when circumstances allowed it. He was doing this as thoroughly as he did everything, which was probably quite a bit more thorough than most other people would have done it.

Since he did not know the boy's prowess at swimming, nor his physical limits, he took care not to stray too far from the beach. There was an outcrop of rocks about half a kilometre from the beach.

"This is where we will swim," he told Eden, pointing. "Use the style that you feel most comfortable with."

He himself started swimming ahead, then doubling back. He needed a workout himself, after all, and sparring with the boy or swimming at his speed would just not do it.

For someone not used to swimming, half a kilometre was a long way. Eden had to slow every hundred meters or so, occasionally switching from freestyle to side crawl. Having Eeth swim circles around him was not helping his mood any. He stopped at the outcrop, grabbed hold of one and caught his breath. "Show-off," he muttered, utterly unamused.

Eeth had been called a show-off more than once; he was used to it although he still did not quite get it.

"I am merely trying to put in a workout for myself," he said calmly, pulling himself up effortlessly. By now, he was at least a little out of breath, but it took more than a kilometre or so of swimming to seriously bring him anywhere close to his physical limits. "We will try to find lodgings in the city once we are back," he told Eden, resting has back against a rock and surveying the quiet beach and the fishing boats pulling into the harbour. "I am afraid the repairs are going to take us several days to complete at least. Longer if we cannot find cryonic acid in this place."

"I am merely trying to put in a workout for myself," the boy quietly mouthed when Eeth was facing the other way and pulled himself up on to the rock. His arms weren't aching yet, but he knew they would be by the time they got back in. He nodded when Eeth mentioned the repairs. "What will we do if we can't? Surely they would have to send us another ship then," he reasoned.

"Only as a very last resort," Eeth replied. And he would really hate for that to happen. This was his first mission as a Jedi Knight, for the Force's sake, and right now, he was dangerously close to feeling as if he was messing it up. Which he was not, he knew; none of the ship's defects were his fault. But he would have much preferred for things to run smoothly. "The repairs themselves are a little tedious, but not difficult," he explained to Eden. "But the cryonic acid tank leaked, and cryonic acid is hard to come by outside spaceports. However, I will certainly not take you back to the capital, and if I went on my own, I would not have enough reserve energy left to come back here. I will try to find out whether there is any opportunity to find some cryonic acid on these islands – at least enough to see us safely to the next system which has a large space station. It might be possible to order some to this place, or there might be mines or fishing factories large enough to use it for their cooling systems."

Eden lay back on the rock, closed his eyes and enjoyed the sun on his face. The ocean was pleasant. He'd rather not have to swim all the way back to the shore, but that wasn't on the cards now. For a couple of reasons, the idea of the repairs taking a long time did not please him. Firstly, he did not like being away from his master and the Temple both at the same time. Then, there was Eeth; the man was turning out to be far too adept at ordering him around for his liking. He also felt frustrated at not being of any use. He'd been shipped off like a youngling from his last mission, and now he couldn't even assist with repairs to their ship. He blew out a sigh. "I guess we'll have to do the best we can. I have no idea if we are going to find cryonic acid here either. Maybe I can go into town tomorrow and ask around while you're working on the ship." He had not asked for permission per se, but neither had he assumed the opposite.

"You might," Eeth agreed. "The number of places where it is conceivable to obtain such a substance in this town is very limited anyway. There are only the supply stores at the harbour and the wharf."

Eeth saw no reason not to allow Eden to contribute to the mission – and by now, he considered it a mission to get away from here. On the contrary: how could a padawan be expected to grow and learn if he was not allowed to make his own experiences and provide whatever help he could? Eeth might be strict, but he was certainly not the type to coddle a padawan in his charge, nor did Eden strike him as the type who wanted such a thing.

After a while, he said: "Let us head back now. The sea has tides, and they are about to change. If we wait much longer, the swim back will be a lot more exhausting."

Eden didn't need telling twice and slid from his perch on the rock. It had been comfortable there, pleasant even, but it wasn't worth trying to fight tides on the way back.

Twenty-minutes later, the kid dragged himself from the ocean and made to find his towel. He wasn't big on the sand. It tended to get into everything, but at least the swim had washed most of it off. "If there isn't cryonic acid around here, someone might know where we can find some," he said. He liked the idea of getting to do something other than school work and training.

"Possibly," Eeth said. "I sincerely hope we will manage to find some on these islands because I would rather not risk another take-off with what little reserve power we have left."

He took Eden back to town where they were told that outsiders, which was mostly people from incoming ships, usually stayed in an array of bamboo huts at the beach on the other side of the harbour. It was very basic, but there were toilets and showers, and food could be bought from a number of stalls. A number of families even lived here permanently. Eeth was told that these were the wives and children of sailors who cruised the islands for trade and passenger traffic. "Apparently, rain is an unknown around here," Eeth remarked, observing the sun rays that fell through the gaps in the roof onto the floor of the cabin. "We will stay here and save our ship's energy for the repairs, then. Let us fetch our things and have dinner."

"Or the concept of a king tide," Eden replied quietly after having noticed how close a couple of the huts were to the shoreline. Still, it passed as 'quasi-shelter', and although it was no palace room, it suited him well enough. He glanced around the small space and tossed his pack next to one of the two single beds in the room. He might have tossed his pack onto the bed, but it was swathed in some white netting that he guessed was to keep insects and the like from monstering them in their sleep. Crouching, he fingered at a tear in the base that had been tucked into the mattress and hoped that whatever this was meant to protect them from did not crawl. There wasn't much to the rooms themselves. However, they had passed several large, open huts with colourful pillows and blankets strewn around. There were also tables, so he guessed those huts would serve as a communal place to eat. Eden was hungry, not that this was anything new because, well, he was always hungry.

"I'm sore. do you think I could lie down?" The request had been honest, but it carried an edge of sarcasm. After all, it was Eeth's fault he hurt right now.

"You are not used to that amount of exercise, are you?" Eeth asked quite matter-of-factly. "Lie down. I will give you a massage. It will help your sore muscles."

"My master and I don't swim or run around in sand much, no," Eden replied while trying to figure out how best to move the netting without making more tears in it. In the end, he bundled it up and pushed it over to the far side so he could lie down and the man would be able to sit next to him without being strangled. Unsure how Eeth planned to do this, Eden simply pulled off his shirt and lay down.

"Once you have acquired more muscle power and endurance," Eeth replied, "neither swimming or running in sand will pose problems. And you have to work out somewhere near your limits in order to improve both." He started working on Eden's upper arms. Since he had plenty of experience of working out near, or even beyond, his limits, he also knew a lot about how to deal with sore muscles.

Personally, Eden thought that his master pushed him plenty hard enough as it was, but apparently, the man had been easing him into things, or so it would seem if the workout he'd just endured was anything to go by. Deciding not to comment on that, he merely nodded, his brow furrowing as Eeth found a knot in his upper arm and started mashing it out. It hurt, although was nothing more than he could handle.

His ass was no longer burning as it had earlier, not that the paddling had been particularly harsh. It had hurt him, though, as loath as he was to admit it. Why the Force Eeth had thought it necessary to bring a paddle in the first place was beyond him. What was he expecting? Did Eeth think himself some sort of Jedi vigilante? He mulled these questions around in his mind for a moment until eventually, he decided to ask. "Do you always walk around with a paddle stuck in your belt or am I just lucky?" He also wondered if it had been Eeth's choice or if the Council had told him to bring it. The latter would be worrisome because as far as Eden knew, he did not have a reputation as being a troublemaker. Sure, like most new apprentices, he was catching it often enough, but that was to be expected, or so he had been told.

Eeth pondered briefly how to phrase his answer. It never occurred to him to be evasive, let alone untruthful, though. Like most Jedi, he believed that it was every person's right to ask questions and receive honest answers, child or not. "I carry it when I am teaching," he replied. "Since the Council asked me to continue your training while I am in charge of you, I brought it."

"Oh." Eden wasn't sure what to make of that. Sure, plenty of Jedi used implements to correct misbehaviour. Force, Jay had taken his belt to him more than once, not to mention tagged him with cooking spoons. Once, he'd even used the boy's own shoe. That had fucking hurt. He also knew several teachers who used implements: some preferred canes, others rulers. But for some reason the fact that Eeth kept this on his person and had brought it specifically for him had him wrinkling his nose. "Well, just so you know, I don't need you to discipline me. I am well able to learn from my mistakes without pain," he said confidently. It was worth a shot and Eden was willing to try it on.

"Unfortunately for you," Eeth replied without humour, "it is not up to you to make that decision. I am well within my rights to physically discipline you when you disobey me, lie to me or neglect your safety, and I will not hesitate to do so. And I consider it highly unlikely that this is any different with your master – or is it?"

The thought of outright lying and stating that Jay never physically disciplined him briefly crossed Eden's mind, but that was as far as it went; lying wasn't Eden's style. That said, he was sometimes less than forthcoming with the truth which was not at all a euphemism for lying, or so he had convinced himself. "Unfortunately for me, no," he agreed. "He doesn't deem my behaviour bad enough to warrant carrying a paddle around in his belt, though. Don't you think that's just a bit over the top? What if someone sees it? Besides, it's not like I get into a lot of trouble or anything."

"No, I do not think it is a bit over the top," Eeth replied evenly, starting to work on the other arm. "So what if somebody sees it? It is good to hear that you do not get into a lot of trouble. If that is true, I will end up having carried the paddle around in vain. That is a risk I am willing to take. I do not go around looking for excuses to use the paddle on you, if that is what worries you. I merely like to be prepared."

"You might not care, but I care; how embarrassing," Eden replied to Eeth's 'so what' comment. The man's preparation did not work in his favour here, not that he said as much as it was becoming clear to him that this conversation was probably not going to go the way he wanted.

"If you find it embarrassing," Eeth said, "I will take care that nobody sees. And just for the record, I will do my best not to use it in public unless you absolutely leave me no other choice. If I have to use it at all which, according to you, is unlikely. Now, do you want me to massage your legs as well?"

Eden had been referring to the mere sight of it if someone happened to notice a paddle sticking out of Eeth's belt. That he might use the thing on him in public had not occurred to him. The boy's eyes widened, not that Eeth could see as he had his face mostly buried in the pillow. Had Jay ever whaled on him in public before? He had to think about that. No, he didn't think so. His junior crèche master had, although he had only been five at the time. At five, the last thing you cared about was who was watching; it was all about your ass and getting it away from whatever was smacking it as fast as possible.

The kid was lost in his thoughts for a moment before Eeth's question registered. "No, my legs aren't that bad, it's my arms. As I said, I'm not used to swimming. I am also not used to defending against an adult using Ataru." He sat up and rolled his shoulders. Eeth had not been gentle, but it had helped a lot. "Thanks," he said and gave the man what was probably his first genuine smile since leaving his master; he missed the man. "What now?"

"Now we fetch our things from the ship and eat dinner," said Eeth.


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner was simple, but very good. A huge grilled fish seasoned with spices was served on a platter for everyone to serve themselves, accompanied by a stack of fresh flat bread loaves and platters of tropical fruit. They sat on cushions and watched the sun set. Seated around them were about fifteen other guests: a few men who looked like sailors and two families, both without fathers. One of the mothers had a baby and two toddlers; the other had a range of children from around age five to older teenagers. Eeth noticed that they were throwing Eden curious looks. "Feel free to talk to them if you like," Eeth said. "If you do, stick to our cover story, though."

In Eden's opinion, dinner was delicious, the fruit dessert even better, but their ocean view as the sun went down was by far the highpoint. His hunger sated and muscles sore, but comfortably so, the boy leant back into his cushion, content to allow the stress from the past few days to fade into the Force. He hadn't noticed anyone taking a particular interest in him, not that he would blame them if they did; what with Eeth's horned head and his own dark skin, silver hair and white eye, they both stood out like bantha balls to the locals. He glanced over at Eeth, nodding once in response. He wasn't a particularly talkative person. That was one thing that he and the knight shared. That said, he was curious about this place and the people who lived here. Not to mention the fact that he needed to use the refresher and a palm tree wouldn't work for this! He threw a glance around. Given that he already had Eeth's permission to wander, the boy made for what he hoped was their amenities. It was. He was not surprised to find a different setup here from what he was used to. He did, however, tilt his head to one side at spotting the hose. Okay, so this was not something he'd come across before; at the Temple, they used sonic cleaners!

Twenty minutes later the boy emerged, feeling none too comfortable but covering it well. How anyone could walk around comfortably with a wet ass crack was honestly beyond him. Besides, his trousers had a tiny wet patch. If there was some local trick to preventing this, Eden did not know about it. So he made his way back to Eeth fast and sat down.

A few minutes later, a boy and a girl about Eden's age made their way over to where he and Eeth were sitting. "Excuse us if we're interrupting," the girl said, "but we're curious. We don't often get visitors from off-world here. Where are you from?"

Eeth looked up at them. "Coruscant," he replied truthfully. He glanced at Eden. "Would you like to tell them about it?" he asked quietly.

No, not really. Eden wasn't the chatty sort. That said, neither did he want to be rude, so he sat up a little straighter and met the two with a slight smile. "It's smoggy," he began. Upon realising that this was probably not enough, he elaborated. "Nothing like here. It's said that the rarest resource on Coruscant is the sky. Everything is built up, 5127 levels up, to be exact. With that many levels, you can imagine that not much sun reaches the bottom. It's uninhabitable. We live in the Galactic City, but most live in the underworld areas."

"5127 levels! How do you get around on the lower levels without crashing into stuff all the time?" the boy asked.

"Mostly public transport," Eden replied. "Speeders are less common the further you travel into the underworld. On the surface, air speeders use sky lanes and have auto-navigation systems so they don't crash."

"Heh, sounds like lots of noise to me. So, what do you two do, and why are you both here?" the girl asked.

Eden just shrugged. He was used to the noise by now, not that he said as much. He glanced at Eeth, wondering if he was going to answer the question or leave it to him.

"I'm running a small courier enterprise, together with a partner," Eeth said. "Eden here is my partner's son. He sometimes comes along on our trips during term breaks. We had been delivering something to Koros and on our way back we had a defect in our power system, forcing us into an emergency landing on this planet. Since there seemed to be armed fights going on in the capital city, we decided to better land as far away from it as possible. Now we are trying to repair the ship, but this could pose a problem since we discovered that our cryonic acid tank has a leak."

"I dunno if you'll have much luck getting your hands on cryonic acid here," the boy said. "But they're building a huge wharf on the island of Taktaw, did you know that? It's where our dad works. You might have more luck there."

"No, we didn't know that. Is it difficult to get to Taktaw if you don't have a ship?" Eden asked, curious to know how they were going to get there. Boat? Speeder? Foot? He wasn't sure, although prayed the latter wasn't the case, especially so if it was going to be a long haul.

"A trading boat leaves for the continent once a week, passing by Taktaw. There will be another leaving, uh?" the boy glanced at his sister.

"Day after tomorrow," the girl supplied. "But it will only stop at B'tik, a small fishing village at the south coast. From there you'll have to hire a tinny to take you to the north where the wharf is built. Shipping connections are bad right now since a lot of passenger ships are staying in ports due to the fighting. But the trading boat is still making its supply trips."

"We should consider this," Eeth told Eden in a low voice. "Tomorrow, both of us try to find out whether any cryonic acid is available on this island. If not, travelling to the building site will be our next best bet. They will have their own supplies and some of their machines will be sure to use cryonic acid."

Eden shrugged. That sounded like a good enough plan to him.

The group talked about the island for a bit longer. Apparently, Taktaw was not as large as Auwago. That said, it was the nearest of Niwago's Islands to the mainlands. Hence, many ocean traders passed it by. This was why they needed the new wharf, according to the two locals. They were hoping to boost their island's fortunes. So far, they had little more than fishing villages to offer.

"Most of our traffic comes in from overhead," the girl, whose name turned out to be Sage, told them. They were about to ask some more questions about Coruscant when their mother came over. She greeted the group, introducing herself, and then politely excused her kids; it was time for them to go home.

Not long after, Eeth and Eden did the same.

"Owchfuckitandshit," Eden hissed, having cracked his shin on the small table. There was no electric lighting in these small huts, just a glow lamp that sat on the table. Not wanting a lecture on being mindful of his surroundings, Eden lit it quickly and sat to pull off his boots.

"No cursing, please," Eeth said evenly. However, he knelt down next to Eden and briefly rested his hand on the boy's shin, letting some healing energy flow into the area and soothe the pain. He was good at healing, for a field knight. "We should perform an evening meditation together," he said. "Let us get ready for bed first."

Eden had the prudence to appear sheepish over the mild rebuke. Jay did not mind if he occasionally cursed, as long as it was situationally appropriate to do so. He guessed that cursing in the presence of a Jedi Knight he barely knew did not qualify as situationally appropriate. Still, he took it on the chin and yanked off his socks. He was surprised at the healing Eeth was able to do. As far as he knew, most field Jedi had rudimentary skills in Force healing at best, this knight seemed capable of doing much more than the basics. "Did you spend time training with the healers or something?" he asked curiously,as he pulled off his trousers and shirt and then yanked a now creased pair of cotton sleep pants from his pack.

"Not in order to become a healer," Eeth replied. "My skills are above the average for a field knight, however; thus, I took some time developing them further." Of course, a major reason for his overdeveloped skills at healing was his childhood as an orphan in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, where he had drawn on the Force instinctively in order to survive. But there was no way he was going to talk about this, least of all to a junior padawan!

"Oh," Eden replied neutrally. He wasn't sure what exactly he had expected to receive as an answer to that question. Thus, he pulled on his pants, grabbed his toothbrush from his pack and hefted the bucket of sweet water by their door which was filled for them each morning. "I'll leave it out for you," he said nonchalant and disappeared outside to clean his teeth and take a leek.

Ten minutes later, the boy entered, tossed his toothbrush in his pack and sat down on what passed as their floor to wait. Bits of stick from the fallen ceiling jabbed into his legs and butt, and so the boy took a moment to shuffle around until he was comfortable, shucking tiny shards of stick and stones that were too small to be noticed but were surely felt when sat upon.

Eeth returned after a few minutes, having spent that time thinking about how to do this. He had been on the receiving end of joint meditations any number of times, but had rarely led them. Besides, he did not share a training bond with the boy.

Having come to a decision, he sat down opposite Eden and said: "I will guide you through a meditation that will enable you to focus on your bond with your master. Depending on your prowess at meditation, you might or might not be able to establish an actual connection with him and gain a sense of how he is faring. Since your skills at Force work seem to be adequate, you might well manage it." The meditation in question was a complex one to guide another person through, but Eeth had excellent mental control; he was confident that he would manage.

"Adequate? I'd say they are more than 'adequate,'" the boy corrected him, a hint of indignation in his tone.

"There is still room for improvement," Eeth replied evenly. "Maybe less so in this area than in others."

Eden's instructors had told him that he had excellent control and ability to wield the Force. Still, he had noticed that Eeth had yet to tell him he had done anything more than 'adequate.' Oh, well, he was not the sort to need much praise, and so he nodded to show he understood, closed his eyes and dropped his shields, completely. Eden had no issues doing this. He was used to masters and teachers guiding his meditations, and it had yet to occur to him that bombarding them with a torrent of his emotions might be uncomfortable for them.

Eeth linked with Eden and was surprised at the sudden onslaught of emotions he received, which he hastily channelled into the Force. Of course, he realised: the boy had been taught to do this in every meditation, and he would have no idea that Eeth had never helped anyone to release their emotions into the Force before. Not betraying anything of the fact that this was new to him, Eeth did his best to help Eden attain a calmer state of mind and was surprised how well this worked, and how downright pleasant it was. It seemed that other people's negative emotions were a lot easier for Eeth to deal with than his own!

He then guided Eden into a meditation pattern that was meant to help him focus intensely on the bond he shared with his master. It required something akin to a spiralling approach that was hard for many youngsters to master, but Eeth thought Eden might manage.

The technique that Eeth was teaching him was new to Eden. Jay had decided that his grasp of the Force was such that it could take a backseat to his physical training which needed immediate improvement. Thus, when Eeth began to guide him through this, Eden followed him eagerly. Force work had always come easily to him. It seemed so natural, as if he were merely extending his arm and grasping a cup. This, however, was not the standard meditation and it was only with some effort that he managed to grasp the concept.

By the time their half hour was up, the boy was smiling. He had not managed to get a clear sense of his master, but he had sensed something and would have sworn blind that he had elt his master's presence. When he opened his eyes, the huge smile was still on his face. "Thanks, that was so cool!" he exclaimed, clearly excited at what they had just achieved.

Eeth was surprised at how gratifying it felt to hear this. "You are welcome," he said solemnly and a little stiffly, never one for showing his emotions. "Now let us go to bed. It might be good if I started mending the leak tomorrow while you go looking for cryonic acid. That way, we will be able to fill the tank immediately in the event that you find some."

* * *

The following morning Eden woke feeling tired. He hadn't slept well, and his arms and back were now a bit stiff from the previous day's workout. "Morning," he said tiredly, squinting his good eye to try and see through the insect netting into the bed opposite. Automatically he had reached out with the Force, which meant that well before his eyesight kicked in, he knew Eeth was not there. He threw his legs over the side of his bed and fought with the netting for a moment before finding his feet. He was just about to stick his head out the door when the man entered, startling him briefly. "I have to take a leak," he said in way of greeting, stepping aside to let the man enter and offering a slight bow.

"Good morning, Padawan Eden," Eeth, who had already meditated and got ready for the day, said pointedly. "Yes, go ahead."

After they had performed a brief morning meditation, they had breakfast in the communal tent. The other inhabitants of the camp seemed to be still asleep.

"I think it is too early to check out the stores," Eeth said. "We will go to the ship where you can put in an hour or two of school work. After that, you should go into town and look for cryonic acid. I will try to mend the leak in the meanwhile."

Which was what they did. Eden couldn't say that class work was amongst his favorite of tasks; it wasn't. But he knew it had to be done. Thus, he didn't complain and did as told.

Two hours later, he was bored shitless with his assignments. The boy stood, stretched out his sore muscles, rolled his shoulders and craned his neck. Eeth was still busy in the cable shaft, so he moved towards the door. He wanted some fresh air but did not exit; Eeth had told him not to do this, after all.

At this point, Eeth came out towards the galley. He raised his eyebrows at the fact that Eden had gotten up, but chose not to comment; instead, he checked the boy's progress with his school work and deemed it satisfactory. "Alright, go into town and check for cryonic acid now," he said. "Go to each store at the waterfront and, if they don't have cryonic acid, make sure to ask them if they know where to get some or what other stores to check out. I will continue working on the leak in the meanwhile. It is rather difficult to get at." He handed Eden a comlink. "It is set to contact me when you activate it," he said. "Call me if there are any problems."

"There won't be any problems," Eden said confidently while pulling on his pack and accepting the comlink. Eden hadn't done anything like this before, at least not alone. That said, he was determined to be of some use on this 'mission', and it wasn't like this was a difficult task. After checking the signal, he made towards the hatch and hesitated. Eeth had told him not to open it, but surely he was not going to be as pedantic as all that?

Eeth correctly interpreted Eden's hesitation and said: "Go ahead. I will close behind you and lock. Comm me when you are back. Do not take more than three hours, please. I expect you back at our lodgings by one o'clock. If you are unable to make it for some pressing reason, contact me."

"Gee, instructions much. Sure you didn't leave anything out there?" Eden replied, thinking that the man had covered about every conceivable outcome.

The expression on Eeth's face darkened. "I would appreciate it if you lost the attitude," he said sternly.

Eden eyeballed him for a moment. Upon seeing the expression on the man's face, he wisely refrained from continuing to argue the point. "Yes, Sir," he said instead. He gave a mock salute, turned on his heel and marched off. It was about as much smart-assery as he dared, especially since he did not know Eeth all that well.

Eeth was tempted to come after the boy and swat him, but he refrained from doing so – partly because he remembered the creche instructors he had worked with who had advised him to overlook such small things as long as he was obeyed, and partly because he did not know Eden well and had no idea how Eden's master handled such things. He took his task of looking after Eden seriously, but at the same time, he had no desire to meddle with the way his master raised him. Keeping his comlink handy, he again climbed up the inner hull, continuing to weld the leak shut. This was, unfortunately, a job too tricky for the primitive repair droid this ship was equipped with.

The roads in town were constructed of mainly compressed sand, and in some places, stones, both of which Eden assumed were sourced somewhere locally, given the lack of large machinery around. The street shops and stalls themselves were brightly coloured and decorated with creative signage. Some sold clothing, their long, thin garments, stripy scarves and grass hats hung from the ceilings on wire hangers. They blew around in the breeze, and he guessed that if the wind got too much, they would have to pull all these down lest they be fishing their wares out of the ocean for the next week. The food stalls were all open-fronted, and some were joined together. Each had a variety of foods that ranged from fresh and dried fruits to meats and in some stalls, grain, legumes and animals from the oceans. As they had discovered last night, the shops were bunched into their related genres; food shops were in one area, then clothing, then tools and equipment, and it was to the latter area that he made his way first.

As it turned out, there was a small amount of cryonic acid available here, but the quantities were so minuscule that it would probably be of no use to them. As Eeth had surmised, these stocks were meant to service small engines of which there were not many on this Island. Still, the boy purchased the single canister he had found, stuffed it in his pack and questioned the man over where he could find more. By the time he was done with this section, Eden had purchased another two small canisters from other vendors. They probably wouldn't be nearly enough to fix their ship, although it might just get them to Taktaw. He didn't know. What he did know was that it was freakin' hot, and everyone he had spoken to so far had told him that for large ship engines he would need to travel to Taktaw. Travelling to Taktaw was to be a mission in and of itself if he did not find enough cryonic acid to allow them to use their ship.

It was about half past eleven when he stopped by a food stall, intent on ordering himself a snack before checking in on the last few shops on his way back to their lodgings. He was squatted down in the shade skimming the menu when a couple of familiar voices caught his attention. It was Sage and her brother, Taram, from the night before. He smiled as they approached him, stood and greeted them politely.

"Hi, Eden!" Sage said enthusiastically, her head tilting to one side as she realised he was about to order food from the shop. "You and Eeth wanna join us for lunch? We're all sitting down at the freshwater pools on the outskirts. It's cooler there this time of day, and we can go for a swim too."

"Yeah, the water's clean, ice cold and not as itchy or sandy as the ocean," her brother added.

Eden thought about this, the menu forgotten for the time being. "Eeth's working on our ship. How far away is it?" Because if it were too far out of the town, it was probably going to get him into trouble – not that shucking his responsibilities to go play with his friends would go over well.

"'Bout ten minutes walk. It's no biggie, we all go there, and there's plenty of parents if you're worried about being unsupervised." Taram didn't think that was why he had asked, though, given that he was apparently in town by himself.

Ten minutes. That hardly qualified as out of the question to Eden. Okay, okay, so technically he wasn't meant to leave the area, he was meant to be checking the rest of the shops, not running off to swim… But the idea sounded positively blissful to the hot, sweaty apprentice. He glanced at his comlink. He still had an hour and a half left, and it would not take him all that long to get back. He contemplated contacting Eeth for a moment when a thought occurred to him: what if Eeth forbid it? He was a brand new knight and didn't know him from a bar of soap. What if he was overly cautious? Then there was the fact that he had been a smartass before he'd left; if this had been Jay, he doubted the man would be keen to allow him privileges after that. He mulled this over in his mind for a while before deciding that it was worth the risk. Besides, Eeth did not have a training bond with him, so he couldn't sense his whereabouts. And what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. The kid winced at his thoughts. It was very unlike him to be deceptive, but Force, he was eleven years old, this was all new and exciting for him and above all, he really, really wanted to go. "Why not? Let's see it, then." And a few minutes later, he was heading for the outskirts to a place called 'The Boulders."

"I see where the place gets its namesake," said Eden upon arriving. The place was picturesque, there was no debating that. What stood out most were the massive rocks and stone sheets strewn about it in no specific order. Some were lodged into the ground while others stuck out from differently sized pools of water. He assumed that volcanic activity caused these giant crevices and that they were filled from an underground bore, given that there were no apparent waterfalls or other sources.

"Go ahead, feel it if you're brave enough," Taram encouraged Eden, kicking off his sandal to dip a bare toe in the nearest pool.

Not to be outdone, Eden sat, pulled off his shoe and followed suit. The water was like freakin' ICE! "Chilly! However does it manage that?"

"It comes from a deep artesian bore. That, coupled with the overhanging canopy, means the water is cool instead of baking hot like most other places," Sage explained.

"Lunchtime, you lot, hurry up," called a woman that Eden recognised from last night as Taram and Sage's mother. He inclined his head in way of greeting, but it seemed to be lost on her as she was immediately busy with a toddler bend on pulling the tablecloth, along with everything on it, off and onto himself.

"Jerome's keeping her busy. I dare you to go first," Taram challenged Eden, whipping off his shirt and tossing it aside.

Not to be outdone, Eden copied the teen, shucking his shirt, pants, pack and comlink until they were standing there in their underwear. "Ladies first," he told the older boy, earning himself a snort from Taram and…. "Argh!" Eden jumped back as freezing cold water splashed his bare skin. Apparently, Sage had not appreciated the comment and decided to wipe them both out. Well, it had worked. The two boys stared at her, water dripping from their hair.

"Hurry up before mum notices! Unless of course, you're both chicken?" Sage shot cheekily and covered her face when the pair entered, bomb style, making a huge splash.

"Holy. Holy! SMOKE! It's. Just. The. COLD-est! Water. I've ever. Felt!" Eden managed to get out, noting that his jaw had involuntarily clenched up and his voice was an octave higher than usual. Theoretically, it probably wasn't as cold as it felt, but his body was just so hot that the effect was practically heart-stopping. He reached down, yep, his balls were not having anything to do with this insanity and were currently lodged in his adenoids. He swallowed to dislodge them. Fuck, this might actually kill an elderly person, he thought. None of them had time to laugh at his reaction, though; all the splashing had drawn their mother's attention, and she came over brandishing what looked like a salad spoon.

"I thought I told you two that lunch was ready, not to go for a swim. Out." She gave her two children a swat each with the spoon as they rushed past her to find their clothing. She wasn't really upset, but she could hardly let them know that. Eden looked warily at the woman as he leapt from the water, but it hadn't looked like it hurt all that much. He threw on his clothing and immediately felt better for having taken the dip; he was now cool and comfortable.

"Eden's gonna join us for lunch," Sage announced proudly. She was rubbing at a round splotch low on her left butt cheek, yet her expression was far from chastened. In fact, both Taram and Sage looked like they were trying to keep from grinning.

"We'd love to have you, sweetie. Does your dad's friend know where you are?" she asked Eden.

"Yes, Ma'am," Eden told her. It wasn't exactly a lie; Eeth knew he was in the town, after all, and this wasn't that far from the town.

"Alright then, I'll set you a place by us."

Lunch with their family was a lively affair. Different families joined them as they sat and talked. It was enjoyable. Eden had been dutifully checking his watch as they ate but then a whole bunch of them had gone back to the pools, and he had lost track of time. Not by much, though. It was half past twelve when he checked, he'd have time to check the other shops and get back to the ship by one o'clock. He would dry on the way back. But he didn't want to leave!

"Why not tell Eeth that you want more time, what can it hurt?" Sage had suggested when Eden had explained that he needed to get back.

Well, Eeth had told him to contact him if he needed more time, so, maybe he would. At the same time, Eden didn't exactly want to say that he was swimming with friends, nor did he want to admit to anyone here that he didn't have permission to be doing this, especially their mum after he'd told her he did. Frowning at the mess he seemed to have landed himself in here, he grabbed his comlink and stared at it. "Alright, give me a second," he told the others who were now back playing with several kids from other families, and moved out of hearing range. As Eeth had explained, the comlink was set to dial him upon activation, so he activated it and waited. Maybe he would get lucky and the man wouldn't answer? Yes, that would be the ideal scenario.

Eeth had just finished welding the last bit of the leak shut. That left him with fixing the molten cables and replacing a number of parts, which was going to take a day or two. He extracted himself from the inner hull and was just about to head for the shower when Eden contacted him. "What is it, Padawan Eden?" he asked, having accepted the communication.

Okay, so luck was not on his side today...

Eden dragged a hand down his face. After flicking off the last of the water, he cleared his throat. "I'm still in town, but I'd like more time to look around," he said, never one to beat around the bush. It wasn't entirely truthful, but neither was he going to admit that he'd left the town, gone swimming with some kids and neglected to finish his work. If Eeth gave him long enough, he would be able to stay for a while longer as well as finish his duty.

"What do you need it for?" asked Eeth. "Are there more shops than we had noticed?"

"A couple," replied Eden, pausing. "People like to talk, too, you know? Also, I met up with some kids from last night, and they have invited me to go swimming with them now. Can I go, please?" Eden asked, his tone sheepish. Given the attitude he'd had before leaving, he doubted the knight would be in any mood to grant him favours. Still, he figured that a half lie was easier to cover than absolute bullshit. Besides, he had no intention of confessing that he'd already spent an hour swimming with friends.

Eeth was not quite buying this, but he decided to focus on what was important now and ask questions later. "You said yourself that your duties are not yet complete," he said woodenly. "There is no question of going out before that is the case. Finish checking the stores as fast as possible and then meet me at our lodgings. We will have lunch there."

Eden frowned, not that Eeth could see it. His friends were beckoning for him to hurry up which forced him to turn his back on them lest he fuck this up even more. "If I finish my work first, can I go swimming?" he wanted to know. Eden sounded like a whiny kid, he knew, but Force, he couldn't help it.

"Padawan Eden, I need to hear about your findings and I might have questions about them," Eeth said, and his voice was distinctly stern now. "Therefore, you will do as I told you and meet me immediately after you are finished. Is that understood?"

"No," he started, but stopped himself. If this were his master, he'd get in serious trouble for continuing to argue past that point. He sighed and acquiesced. "Yes, Sir." He was not at all happy about this but could see no way out of it. He wasn't comfortable outright disobeying the man after all.

"Remember," Eeth said severely, "our aim is to get away from here as fast as possible. Think of it as a mission. Your enjoyment is not paramount to the success of this mission, but the completion of your task is. Now get to it." He ended the call, frowning. Why did so many padawans have so much trouble with the concept of duty over leisure, he wondered. He was aware that he had his faults, too, but this had never been one of his, and it was one that he had a hard time understanding.

Eden knew what his duty was, but at barely eleven years old, he still had boyish urges. Resigned, he tossed the comlink onto his pack and jumped back into the water, bomb style. Eeth had not given him a time, but he had given him time to visit the shops; another ten minutes would never be noticed.

"All good?" Sage asked when Eden surfaced and shook the water from his hair.

Taram raised a hand to stop the water from spraying his face. "Yeah, you staying? Because if you are, we can show you around our place afterwards if you like."

"I can't. Eeth is busting my balls about getting back. He wants the cryonic acid," Eden explained.

Sage snorted. "Talk about the fun police!"

"They don't want to be stuck here forever. They are from Coruscant, this must be boring for them," Taram told his sister as if it should be obvious.

Eden thought Taram's comment amusing, but didn't let on; if they only knew how boring his life could be, he thought. Outwardly, however, he said: "Nah, I like it here, it's peaceful. – Look," he added, changing the subject. "I have a bit of a problem. You see, I did not exactly ask for permission to come here, and I probably should have. Also, I might have told your mum that I did. Just don't mention it to anyone, okay?"

Sage and Taram exchanged a look, smiled, and then they looked back at Eden. "No problem, it's forgotten already," said Sage, speaking for them both.

"Excellent, thanks. I doubt Eeth would care but he's my dad's friend, and I don't want to piss him off. I would hate it if he decided it was too much trouble bringing me along and I miss out next holidays."

"Don't sweat it, man, we're not gonna flap our lips," Taram reassured.

It was enough for Eden, so he spent another five or so minutes playing before deciding he had pushed it far enough, and reluctantly got out. He had no towel, but it didn't matter; nobody here used them as the sun was hot enough to dry your clothing while still wearing it. That, of course, worked in Eden's favour as by the time he arrived at their lodgings, he was bone dry. He did not make eye contact with Eeth immediately. Instead, he spoke into his pack as he started pulling stuff out. "Three small canisters. Do you think that will be enough to get us to Taktaw?" he asked Eeth.

Eeth immediately noticed that the boy was not comfortable looking him into the face, but he put that down to the fact that he had told him off earlier. Glancing at the canisters, he shook his head. "I was afraid that this would be the case," he said. "Unfortunately, cryonic acid is not like fuel. It is needed for cooling the engines and power circuits, and we need a full tank, no matter how short or long our trip is. Taking off puts a particular strain on the ship, so we cannot even start thinking about leaving here before our tank is full. I assume that means we will have to take the boat tomorrow. We can work out the details of the trip after lunch."

Eden knew very little about spaceship mechanics and thus had been unable to provide answers to the questions the vendors had asked. Still, he had deemed the small amount of cryonic acid worth the little expense in case it happened to be of use. He sighed at finding out that it was not going to be and nudged at one with a bare toe. "Great," he commented unenthusiastically as he pulled stuff from his pack. "I've heard that it's not an easy trip to make. Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice. Unless, of course …" He paused briefly to set aside a bottle of nut water that he had picked up on the way back. "… we wait here for my master to be done with his mission." He popped the seal and took a sip. "It's not so bad here, although it is freakin' hot."

"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how the situation on this planet will develop and whether these islands will become involved," Eeth replied. "Therefore, we will do our utmost to get away from here. Should the Temple order your master back to Coruscant before we have managed, they will ask him to pick us up here, of course. Now, what took you so long with the shops? Did you dawdle?"

Eden shrugged. He didn't mind this place and he had already made some friends. The last thing he wanted to discuss was what took him so long. "A bit. People wanted to talk." He glanced up at the man briefly. Then he stuck his empty pack out the door and shook it free from sand, happy for the distraction. He had sat it on the ground earlier, and, as sand is prone to doing, it was now in everything. "I spoke to all of them. The consensus is that we need to travel to Taktaw. Looks like Taram and his sister were right, after all." Eden was trying to play this cool. Of course, Eeth had no way of finding him out, but for some reason he felt a little edgy and was beginning to wish he had just done as he was ordered.

Eeth was not satisfied with that answer, but since he could not quite put his finger on why that was, he let the matter rest.

After a quick lunch, they went to the harbourmaster and found out the ship's schedule. Eeth inquired twice whether there was no way to find a passage all the way to the building site of the wharf. There was, but that was only five days from now. It would be faster to take tomorrow's ship which would make the trip to Taktwaw island in roughly twenty-four hours and then rent a fishing boat.

"Why are they building a wharf on the island if there is not even a speeder connection?" Eeth asked in disbelief.

The harbourmaster shrugged. "The local politicians say this will help the island develop. Some people think it is just a huge waste of money that helps investors save taxes."

That sounded a lot more plausible than Eeth would have liked. He thanked the man for the information and then took Eden to the same hidden cove as yesterday.

"Time for a workout," he said.

"Joy," came the unenthusiastic response. Eden's arms had burned for hours after last time, and he was not looking forward to reliving it. "So, what's the torture of choice today?" he asked conversationally, tossing his bag on the sand. "Filling my pack with boulders and climbing trees?" The boy folded his arms and waited. He did not want to do this.

"Now that you mention it, this seems like an excellent idea," said Eeth, stony-faced. "Go ahead."

All right, so, apparently one of two things just happened here: either Eeth was so lacking in social intelligence that he failed to detect the sarcasm, or he had noticed and didn't appreciate it. Eden suspected the latter but couldn't rule out the former; after all, Eeth seemed to lack a sense of humour, or so he'd noticed. Well, Eden was not planning to indulge him, and so the boy continued to stare at him, his arms folded and a look of distaste plastered across his face.

Eeth was, of course, entirely aware of the sarcasm. He happened to think, though, that sarcasm was misplaced in conversations with a superior, especially if those conversations involved duty. Since climbing trees with a rock-filled backpack was not really what he had had in mind for today's workout, he was prepared to let Eden off in exchange for an apology. Silent staring, on the other hand, was not going to buy the boy any favors. "Fair warning," he told Eden. "Neither sarcasm nor refusal to comply with an instruction are acceptable for a padawan dealing with a Jedi knight. Either you stop it by yourself, or I will provide motivation, and you will not like that." The creche masters he had worked with had emphasised the importance of giving warnings before punishing children. Well, this was a warning, and it was all the warning that Eden was going to get.

So, Eden's suspicions had been correct on all counts, including the man's supreme lack of humour. Still, he wasn't entirely sure what it was exactly he was meant to be stopping here, and it was that realisation that made his response a little smugger than he'd intended. "If you mean the sarcasm, fine. If you mean why aren't I filling my sack with boulders, well…" He looked around the white beach, his eye immediately locking on one or two large rocks that technically qualified as boulders and would also fit in his pack. "Seriously?" The truth was, he wasn't happy about the prospect of another workout from hell and was being a smartass in order to vent a little of that. Probably not the smartest choice in hindsight.

Eeth pulled aside his civilian shirt and withdrew the paddle from the waistband of his pants. "Seriously," he said ominously.

Eden stood his ground, his gaze remaining locked on Eeth's eye although his peripheral vision had detected the threat. "So, if I don't fulfil my own sarcastically ridiculous suggestion, you are going to punish me for it?" he clarified. "I hardly think that is fair." He squared his stance. "If you force me to do this I will make sure I report it to both my master and the Council as cruel and unusual treatment of a padawan. I will do it, you know." It was a bold move, and he wasn't quite sure if it was wise or if Eeth would be intimidated into backing off.

Eeth's face darkened considerably, and that was saying something. "Yes, by all means report this to the Council," he snapped. "I am sure they will be duly impressed with your witty remark as well as your refusal to accept the consequences and to obey my instructions. Meanwhile, I will give you an incentive to do as I told you. Feel free to report it to the Council as well."

He made a step towards Eden, grabbed the boy's ear, bent him over, tucked him under his arm and brought the paddle down onto his rather thinly clad bottom. "Let me know when you are ready to obey," he told the hapless boy and swatted him again.

Despite desperately wanting to, Eden made no move to avoid Eeth; fighting correction was seriously frowned upon. When he grabbed his ear, the boy winced but went with it, bending forward without struggle and allowing the man to pin him under his arm. When the paddle connected with his ass, he gritted his teeth. However, at the second solid smack he let out a hiss; Eeth was not exactly giving him love pats here, it fucking hurt. Given that the kid wasn't crazy, he immediately acquiesced. "Stop, fine I'll lug your stupid boulders, let me up." He doubted that toughing this out was going to be in his best interest; Eeth was still likely to make him do this, regardless of how many swats he had to give him in order to make him comply after all.

"Good," Eeth said grimly. "You could use to lose the attitude and be a bit more polite about it, though." He emphasised this with a third swat, earning a yelp from the boy, and then let him up. Pointing at the smaller one of the boulders, he said: "That should fit into your backpack." He lifted up the other one himself and packed it into his own. If Eden was going to do this, he was going to learn how to do it properly and Eeth was going to show him. After all, this might become important in real-life situations.

Eden stood stiffly and rubbed at the sting with both hands, his expression mutinous. He said nothing, though; no, he had not been very polite, but then again, Eeth wasn't exactly his favourite person right now. He emptied the contents of his bag onto the sand and stomped off to find the boulder. Eden was seething mad at what he considered unnecessarily harsh treatment, but again he didn't dare voice that. He would simply take it up with the Council and his master. The more he thought about that, though, the more he wasn't sure whose side they would be on. Sure, he had been a smart ass but did it warrant this!? His ass was burning, and pretty soon his muscles would be joining the party.

Eeth calmly and seriously started explaining to Eden how this worked. He meant to teach Eden a lesson not only in the figurative sense. If the boy was doing this, he might as well learn from it. He shouldered his own backpack and started climbing up the palm tree, showing Eden how he had to press his shoulders against the tree trunk so that the weight did not pull him back. Then he slowly made his way back down. "Your turn," he said.

Eden squinted his good eye and held up a hand to shield his view from the glare as he watched Eeth scale the tree. That's all good and well for you, you're twice my size and carrying less weight comparatively, he thought as the man scaled the tree with little effort, but again had the foresight not to voice that; his ass still hurt, and he doubted Eeth would hesitate to add to it if he mouthed off again. I pity his future padawan, he thought when the man landed beside him, looking no worse for the wear.

It took him several attempts, but after dropping his pack once and sliding down the trunk twice, he reached the mark. Coming down was, surprisingly, as much of an ordeal as going up! He managed to land with a little help from the Force, albeit lacking the same grace as Eeth.

"Alright," Eeth said calmly. "And now that you have sufficiently warmed up, we will practice sparring. Drop your backpack, get out your saber."

Eden was happy to oblige and shucked his pack immediately; it weighed a ton, so he was grateful that Eeth did not make him do it again. This wasn't going to be much better, though. Nevertheless, he drew his saber, took up a defensive stance and ignited his blade; he was going to go down with dignity if it killed him, and right now, Eden thought that it just might.

Eeth nodded in approval. He did not expect perfection; he merely expected an effort, rather than an attitude. He picked up where they had left off yesterday, with ways to block an Ataru attack sequence and turn it against the attacker. Hopefully, Eden had committed them to memory.

Eden had, of course, remembered the lesson from yesterday. How could he not? It was practically a flashbulb memory for the kid. Well, perhaps that was being a tad dramatic, but he'd have argued that it wasn't. Of the seven forms, Soresu was the most effective as a defence. That said when you were barely eleven years old and up against a Jedi Knight of exceptional skill in offensive forms, it became somewhat more trying. He kept his movements tight, all the while doing his best to maintain the higher ground and not lose too much of it in the process. It was hard work, really hard, and after twenty minutes he was getting tired of it both literally and figuratively.

Eeth, however, did not consider twenty minutes of sparring a proper workout. Eden was good at his defensive moves and good at drawing on the Force, but he needed to learn more about how to defeat an opponent. Therefore, he went again through the sequences he had taught Eden yesterday and then proceeded to show him a new one. And when that was over, he took the boy swimming once again.

* * *

"What was your master like?" Eden asked conversationally. He was currently slumped face down over the same rock they had swum out to yesterday, his arms dangling tiredly down each side. His ass was still burning but only mildly so, although he had frowned at seeing three distinctly square edges branded into his skin when changing. They stuck out from his briefs but out here it was just him and Eeth, so the boy didn't care. After all, Eeth was the person who had put them there in the first place.

Eeth paused briefly, a little surprised at this question. He was not good at personal conversations. But nor did he have a reason to deny Eden an answer. "She is an Iktotchi master of great experience," he said slowly. "Very patient, but also very good at asserting her authority. An extremely skilled diplomat and negotiator."

"Oh," Eden said, a little surprised. Given how strict Eeth was he had fully expected the man to announce that Mace Windu himself had trained him, or some other equally terrifying Jedi. He told Eeth: "Jay is a good man. Kindly, but you do not want to mess with him too much, or he can get prickly." He laid his head on his arm and looked out across the ocean before continuing. "He took my crèche class once when I was about seven. We both knew then that the Force meant for him to guide me. The Council agreed, but I had to wait until I turned ten. They say that school is more important for the first ten years. Jay says it still is." The boy shrugged. "I could take it or leave it. How did you meet your master?"

Eeth paused again, this time a little longer, before answering this. This information was far too close to a part of his past that he did not like thinking about. "She was the one who found me as a youngling," he finally said, "and she looked in on me occasionally ever since. She asked me to become her padawan when I was ten."

Eden turned his head to face Eeth at hearing this, his bad eye now up and subsequently rendering him blind. "You were ten too, Hm." He didn't know why this surprised him, but like the realisation that the man's master was not a tyrant, it did. "Where did she find you? I haven't found out that stuff about myself yet. I can't, or so Jay says."

"Nar Shaddaa," Eeth said curtly. And nothing more. He absolutely did not want to remember the place any more than necessary.

The curt response wasn't lost on the boy; thus, he refrained from asking more questions despite his curiosity. He turned his head to face forward and lowered his chin to rest on a forearm.

Eeth assumed his reply had not exactly been kind, but his childhood was simply something he was not ready to discuss. The unbidden memory of a Zabrak woman lying motionless on the floor of a dingy room, her face and neck bruised, appeared in his mind. He pushed it back and drew a breath, releasing the sudden surge of anxiety that had accompanied it into the Force.

After a moment, he said: "Let us swim back now before the tide goes out. We also need to pack for the trip."

Eden slid his body from the rock and began what he was sure was going to be a painful swim back to the shoreline. It did not disappoint, and the boy practically crawled from the ocean onto the sand. Still, he was trying, which was why he dragged himself upright and made for his pack to begin dressing. This might not be a mission, per se, but it was sure turning into one in his opinion!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the feedback and comments. As always, we greatly appreciate it!

Fan: Eeth does have issues with his past but he tries hard to ignore him. Eden will certainly not be with him for long enough to break through his shell, nor will his first padawan, Lakhri, have much success with that. Things will only change when Eeth is with his second padawan, Raven, and it will take a number of threads for us to get to that point. Sorry, folks. But we'll get there. Promise. :)

* * *

After they had got dressed and recovered from their swim, Eeth took Eden back to the ship where he provided him with another massage and some cream for his sore muscles. He did not want the boy to be in serious pain, after all. He just wanted to help him improve his physical condition.

After they had packed for their trip, they went back to their hut for their last night at the shore. A few other people were already there, waiting for dinner. The family they had talked to yesterday was just approaching.

Eden waved to his two friends and their mother and was silently relieved when, like the other night, they moved to their preferred table and sat down. It was not that he did not want their company, it was to the contrary, but nor did he like the idea of having his friend's mother chatting for too long; if she mentioned lunch, the shit would hit the fan. After all, it was bound to come up if they spent the entire dinner together, he was sure of it.

Other families joined Eeth and Eden for dinner that evening, their conversation mostly centred on their pending journey to Taktaw and other safe topics. It wasn't until later in the evening that Sage and Taram came to say hello. Their mother was busy cleaning up their baby brother and talking with the other mothers. "Hello, Eeth, Eden, nice to see you again," started Taram and sat down opposite them, resting his arms loosely around his knees.

"How did you go with the cryonic acid?" Sage asked. She didn't know a lot about starships and had no idea if Eden had managed to collect enough to help.

"Not enough. Apparently, on this particular ship we have to fill the entire tank which takes more than a few canisters," Eden replied honestly.

"Does that mean you'll both leave tomorrow?" asked Taram. This time he looked to Eeth.

"Yes," said Eeth. "We need to return to Coruscant as fast as possible. This ship is needed for another trip. We will be back for a short while after our return from Taktaw, though, to finish the repairs on our ship."

"Fair enough. Although I doubt a trip to Taktaw will be 'short.' It's not a pleasant journey, at least in my experience," the boy admitted.

"We will have to make it as short as we can, I suppose," Eeth replied with a small smile. "If we find a speeder for rent in B'tik, we will have to see whether our budget allows for it. If not, we will try for a fishing boat. – I lived near the beach on Corellia for a couple of years," he explained upon seeing Sage's questioning look. "I know how to work boats."

Eden glanced at Eeth. He wasn't exactly surprised that the man knew how to work a boat, but he was still relieved as he did not know a bilge from a barge. They talked about boats for a little while, Taram and Sage both having a solid grasp on the mechanics and offering them a little local knowledge about the tides and other peculiarities specific to Taktaw. As it turned out, strong currents were running along the point where the Jedi would be travelling.

"Yeah, you don't want your motor to die going across that section," Sage warned. She was about to tell them which model she thought was the most reliable when their mother approached. It was time for them to leave.

Both Taram and Sage were on their feet immediately; neither wanted their mother around lest she said something about Eden's visit for lunch. "We're ready," Taram told his mother.

"Yeah, I'm tired. Thanks for the company, Eeth, Eden. We might see you tomorrow before you leave," added Sage.

"You two are eager for once. Usually, I have to pry you both away with a crowbar," their mother commented, thinking something wasn't quite right here, but not really bothered. She glanced at Eeth and Eden, giving them both a kindly smile. "I hope you have success with the cryonic acid. Oh, and of course you are both welcome to join us for lunch. Eden can attest that it is much nicer spending the midday hours with us at the boulders than it is to stay in the township. The water is cold, clear and free from sand; I think you'd enjoy it as much as Eden did."

Taram winced, as did Sage. However, it was Eden's expression that seemed a little out of place to the woman.

"You didn't enjoy yourself, hon?" she questioned, a little concerned that perhaps she had missed something that happened yesterday.

"Yes'm, I did. Thank you. If the boat doesn't leave beforehand, I'm sure Eeth and I could come?" Eden replied quickly, turning a slightly paled expression on the man. Maybe he hadn't picked up on that?

Eeth was a fast thinker, though, and he had realised immediately what was going on. He also thought it would save all of them needless diversions if he did not let on that he had until he was alone with Eden. "Unfortunately, the boat will already leave in the morning," he said politely. "If there is time after our return from Taktaw, we will certainly try to make it." He rose. "Eden and I should turn in now as well," he said. "We need to make an early departure tomorrow, after all. Have a good night." He beckoned for Eden to follow him to their cabin, his features quite calm.

"Goodnight," chorused the family, although the expressions on both kid's faces were far from pleased. They didn't know if Eeth had caught Eden out on that as they had no idea what bullshit he'd spun since they last met.

Eden rose and smiled to the others before following along at Eeth's side. He said nothing.

As soon as they had reached their hut, Eeth rounded on Eden.

"Is it true that you joined this family for lunch and went swimming with them?" he asked, his voice carefully controlled; but there was no mistaking the grimness in his features.

Great, the man had noticed. Eden sighed; he really didn't want to have this conversation. "Yes," he answered, his stance shifting from square to side on.

"And what," Eeth continued, still in that same carefully controlled tone of voice, "might have been wrong with that?" His grim look had turned into a downright glare by now; his eyes were practically boring holes into Eden's face.

Eden did not want to answer what was obviously a rhetorical question, but the expression on the man's face had him reconsider his silent approach. "I lied to you," he admitted, his chin coming up and gaze lifting. He had had his reasons, of course, but they all seemed to have left him now.

"So you did," Eeth said evenly. "What else?

The boy frowned. "I disobeyed." He was not at all enjoying this line of questioning, and so he added: "What more do you want?" in the hopes that he could cut this talk short. It was brazen, he knew, but admitting to having neglected his duty was not something he wanted to do.

"For a start," Eeth said icily, not believing for a second that the boy really had no clue what was expected of him, "I want you to talk to me respectfully. Secondly, I expect a complete answer. Obviously, you are unwilling to give one. Very well. Bare your bottom, bend over and touch your toes." He pulled the paddle from his belt, waiting for Eden to comply with his instructions.

Eden backed up, one hand outstretched to ward the man off and the other one reaching back to cover his backside. He wasn't a coward, but neither did he want this. "No, wait! I disobeyed and went swimming instead of doing my duty and then I lied to you about it," he rushed to get out. "When you asked me about it just now, I gave you an attitude. I'm sorry."

"That," said Eeth sternly, "is correct. And it is quite a list of wrongdoings. I could ask why you did not ask for permission, but I am sure you would tell me that I might have said no, and we both know that is not acceptable. Just as we both know that I need to know where you are at all times."

There was no doubt in Eeth's mind that Eden deserved quite some punishment for this. He was also reasonably sure that the boy's master would have felt the same way; but he had no clear idea of the standards the boys was used to. "Tell me," he said. "Had you done something like this with your master in charge of you, what punishment would you have expected?"

What punishment would he expect? Something spectacular, Eden knew, not that he wanted to admit that to Eeth; the man had one hell of a swing on him, and he was sure that he had been holding back last time. He lowered his hand and tried to keep his gaze on Eeth, but it was hard. Eventually, when the silence had drawn out a little too long and he was practically squirming, he admitted: "A very physical one." Of course, it had crossed his mind to lie, to say that his master would have let him off with a talking-to, but he knew that if Jay ever found out, he would kick his ass into next week and then hand what was left of it to Eeth for good measure. The kid shuddered at that scenario, and this prompted more of an answer, so he added. "It's my duty to obey," to further mollify the man.

"Oh yes," Eeth said grimly. "And you neglected that duty, plus some others. My approach to misbehaviour on this scale is about the same as your master's would have been." He glanced around their hut. It did not hold much besides their mats, but there was a wooden box that could be used to store things in or, turned around, as a low table. Eeth turned it around and sat down on it, still holding the paddle. "Bare your bottom and get over my lap," he ordered. He was never one for drawing things out needlessly.

When Eeth started looking around the hut, Eden knew what it meant. When the man turned the box around, the kid wrinkled his nose, and when he sat down, the boy let out a groan. If Eeth was putting him over his knee, it meant he was probably fixing to give him more than he could be expected to take in a standing position without moving. This thought was sobering: that paddle had hurt like a son of a bitch over his trousers, Force only knew how bad it was going to be on his bare ass. He cleared his throat, moved to stand by Eeth's right side and dropped his trousers. Bending over was not pleasant; it was downright humiliating, but he did so. The first thing he noticed was that he fit. Sure, he was not exactly comfortable, but he doubted his comfort was Eeth's top priority right now. "My master doesn't use a paddle on me," he said in a last-ditch effort to get the man to put the thing down.

"Is that true?" Eeth asked, entirely unimpressed, while tilting Eden forward so that his bottom was pointing upward. "What else does he use, then?"

Eden's brow furrowed as Eeth shifted him around. He was just short of resting his elbows on the ground, so he had to stretch his arms out longer to prevent himself from doing a header into the floor. Eeth's question had not at all been the response he was after. He had wanted the knight to relent and use only his hand, not enquire about possible options. "Uh, nothing, it's okay," he managed to get out. Eden did not know what was making him redder, all the blood rushing to his head or the embarrassment of having his ass flapping around in the breeze while he waited for Eeth to start whaling it. He squinted. Jay was going to be seriously displeased if he found out about this, and that probably trumped the lot.

Eeth understood exactly what Eden had been trying to do here and he did not appreciate it one bit. "I do not take kindly to attempts at manipulating me, Padawan Eden," he said coolly. "You misbehaved in a serious way and your punishment will reflect that. You might not like it, but I expect you to accept it as a consequence of your own behaviour." With this, he raised the paddle and brought it down onto Eden's bottom smartly. And then proceeded to spank hard and fast.

The boy lowered his head at the rebuke, tucking his face into his arm. Okay, so he had walked right into that one. He also had earned this punishment, not that such a thing was easy to admit, especially so when you were about to have your ass handed to you. He scrunched up his face at that first smack, his hips instinctively trying to push forward to save his ass from being blistered off. It wouldn't be, of course, but by the time Eeth had landed the sixth, Eden would swear blind that it was. That thing was horrible. The initial sting was fierce enough, but then it seemed to burn right into his muscle! He hissed, grunted, kicked out, pounded his fist on the floor and eventually let out a yelp. He could not help it. "Ahh, Force! C'mon, man, you gotta be j- AHhh - oooking me!"

Eeth did not respond to that; if anything, he increased the speed of his swats and the force behind them slightly. He had barely started. When he was done, Eden would think very carefully whether he ever wanted to pull such a stunt again.

Unbeknownst to Eeth, Eden already thought that it had not been worth it. No amount of fun was worth this! The kid kicked and squirmed; it was now entirely out of his control, he couldn't help it. Well, at least now he knew why Eeth had chosen to put him across his knee: there was no way in hell he could have stood still for this. No way. He wasn't one to tough this sort of thing out, so when a few more attempts to talk Eeth into stopping fell on deaf ears, the boy started wailing. What else could he do? Besides, crying might make Eeth stop, and, it hurt badly enough that Eden would try anything to make him stop.

Eeth did his best to use the Force to soundproof the cabin. Of course, such things worked better when the room in question was moderately soundproof to begin with; but then, Eeth was a rather proficient Force user and thought there was at least a chance for this to work. He did not particularly want to attract attention, but nor had he wanted to lose time by choosing the safer option and taking Eden to the ship.

After a very thorough paddling that left Eden's bottom dark red, he finally put the implement aside. "That," he said sternly, "was your punishment for shirking your duty, lying to me about it and being disrespectful when I confronted you over it. Now for your disobedience. Knowing how the Jedi feel about obedience, you might agree that this warrants more than the paddle." He stabilised Eden with his left arm and opened the clasp of his belt with his right hand.

The second Eden registered that Eeth had stopped, he made to push himself up. He had half an ear tuned to what was being said to him, but mostly his focus was on removing himself from this situation as fast as humanly possible. Still sniffling, he paused when his efforts to right himself were denied, and then it dawned on him: Eeth wasn't done. He turned to look over his shoulder, the expression on his face morphing from that of inquiry to fear as he registered movements and sounds that coincided with the removal of a lightsaber and belt. Okay, so shit was trumps! The belt was Jay's weapon of choice, and something Eden was well accustomed to. That didn't mean it hurt less! It was to the contrary; a belting would hurt him a lot more than the paddle had. The only thing that rated over Jay's belt was his grandmaster's cane. Fuck, did that thing make an impression. He'd only ever gotten it once, and those six licks had reduced the then ten-year-old to a bawling mess and seared their way into more than his ass. Eden had never forgotten it. Nor had he ever tried sneaking out of the Temple while in the man's care again. EVER! He didn't know what to do. He'd surely earned a belting, but after having the ass paddled clean off him, he did not think he could take it. The kid started to sweat, his gaze returned to the floor and he unknowingly held his breath. Eeth's belt was standard, which meant it was made to last. It would be thick, broad and was going to hurt. A lot.

Eeth could sense the fear emanating from Eden, and he paused briefly. "Padawan Eden, you earned this," he said calmly. "It is going to hurt, but I will not harm you; nor will I leave you unable to sleep or to make it through the trip. I do, however, intend to give you a very good incentive not to disobey me again." He doubled the belt over and brought it down onto Eden's bottom with considerable force.

The kid's head whipped up as Eeth addressed him, but then it lowered again at his words. Eden had been on the receiving end of enough punishment to know what to expect; hence he did not truly fear for his life, just his ass! He supposed that was probably the point. Well, at least Eeth did not make him stand up and bend over as Jay was fond of doing. Just when he thought this, any hopes that Eeth's swing would suffer from the proximity were dashed. "Ahhhhffffk! OW!" Eden wailed. That lick had lifted him, as did the next few, the effect cumulative and increasing with each swipe. He kicked with both legs and then cried all the harder when his hands were pinned. Eden was never going to disobey, shirk his duties or lie to Eeth ever again.

Eeth wondered briefly how many strokes he should deal out. He did not actually have much experience with meting out corporal punishment on the level he was doing now. He had supervised creche groups any number of times, but these had been composed of small children and he had not been authorised to give them more than a few firm swats with his hand over the seats of their pants. He had also worked as an instructor for groups of senior initiates and junior padawans. There, he had been allowed to discipline his students as he saw fit when their behaviour warranted it, and he had quickly gained a reputation for being a very strict teacher. Still, this had rarely involved anything more serious than students showing up late for class, not paying attention or slacking off. For this, he had made them bend over and had given them between six and twelve swats with his paddle. In more serious cases, he had kept them after class and administered the swats on the bare. But none of this had involved anything like the infractions Eden had committed today. For Jedi padawans, disobedience and neglect of duty during a mission were serious offenses, as was lying to the person who was in charge of them. Thus, Eeth was sure that no one was going to blame him for dealing out an impressive punishment. This still left him with the task of drawing the line between "impressive punishment" and "abuse". His own experiences as a padawan were of little use here. Being a Zabrak, and having lived through a childhood in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, he had an unusually high tolerance for pain. Consequently, the punishments his master had dealt out had been beyond anything that most other humanoids could be expected to take. Eeth was well aware of that.

Judging by Eden's reactions and the state of his bottom, he decided to give him a full dozen strokes, and to offer some healing later, after Eden had meditated on the reasons for this punishment. That way, the boy, as promised, would be able to sleep, and by tomorrow, only a lingering sting would remind him of this punishment. Having come to this decision, Eeth dealt out the remaining strokes at a steady rhythm, making the last two particularly hard. After all, he wanted Eden to remember this.

Eden knew to expect punishment for misdeeds, but he usually forgot just how much it was going to hurt until it was too late. He kicked, bucked, squirmed and eventually outright fought his way through this, not that it did him much good. That had hurt, it hurt a hell of a lot, and he was sure that, despite Eeth's intentions, he would never sit down again. Not ever! He was not sure when exactly it was that the man stopped, but the moment he became aware that no more pain was accumulating, he began pushing himself up.

Eeth helped him up and, noticing the mess of snot and tears on the boy's face, groped in his pockets for a handkerchief. He did not find one. From now on, he would see to it that he always carried one, he vowed to himself. He reached for a towel that was draped across one of the crossbeams stabilising the hut and handed it to Eden. "Clean yourself up a little," he said. "After that, you will meditate for half an hour on why exactly your behaviour earned you such a punishment, and what you can do to avoid a repeat occurrence."

The help up was appreciated, not that he wanted to let that show, no, Eden was not ready to forgive Eeth yet. That punishment had been on par with what he'd have expected from Jay, and he was sulking. He got to his feet, shucked his trousers and briefs entirely and accepted the towel, wiping it across his face to hide his tears. He didn't want to meditate; he couldn't! How could he sit? He met Eeth with a plaintive expression. "I can't sit," he said morosely, his gaze not meeting Eeth's as, despite his reaction, he knew he had deserved what he got.

Eeth had little tolerance for sulking. He did not see the point. Either a punishment had been unjust, in which case sulking did not help to solve the problem, or it had been just, in which case sulking made no sense. "Then stand or kneel," he told Eden firmly.

That was not the answer Eden had wanted. His sullen expression morphed to one of surprise, but only briefly. What had he expected to hear? He wasn't entirely sure, just not that. Resigned, he set his watch for half an hour, pulled a cushion from his bed, tossed it on the floor and knelt to do as Eeth said.

Half an hour later, he deactivated the timer on his watch, his expression no longer sullen. The meditation had been challenging to maintain as his ass hurt so badly, but he had done it. It had also created a lot of introspection which left him feeling guilty and remorseful about the way he had acted. Eden stood and gingerly pulled on his trousers; his briefs were not going anywhere near his ass. He moved to where Eeth was sitting and knelt. "I'm sorry I disobeyed you, that I lied and didn't do my job. You were right to punish me for that," he said. He stopped short of thanking the man for taking the time to correct him. Jay had often scolded him for sulking after punishment, saying that correction was a privilege and something to be learned from. Eden wasn't quite there yet; the kid was only eleven, after all. He looked at his hands. The fire raging across his ass had downgraded from the surface of Mustafar to a less spectacular burn. It still hurt but was now bearable, or perhaps he was just used to the pain; he wasn't sure about that.

Eeth was pleasantly surprised at the shift in Eden's attitude. Demanding as he might be, he did not actually expect an eleven-year-old to thank him for punishment; a sincere apology was more than sufficient. He gave the boy a rare, small smile and said rather kindly: "Thank you, Padawan Eden. I accept your apology. Would you like me to perform some healing on your bottom? I presume you have learned your lesson, and I would prefer you to be able to sleep."

Eden too would prefer it if he were able to sleep and his expression said as much. "Yes, absolutely, I want healing. Do you have bacta or something?" Eden stopped before saying that he was tempted to sit in their water bucket. He did not think that would be appreciated. The mental picture of the expression on Eeth's face, had he entered to find him doing just that, caused his lip to twitch into a tiny smile. "Where do you want me and how do you do this?" he enquired, getting to his feet. He'd never had anybody heal this part of his anatomy before, but he sure as hell wasn't going to start complaining about it; his ass hurt!

"I will use the Force to take away the worst of the pain," replied Eeth. "Simply lie down on your mat."

Eden didn't need to be told twice. He dropped his trousers, lay down quickly and waited. Eeth had managed to take the pain away when he'd barked his shin on their table the other night, so that he could do this probably shouldn't have come as a surprise.

Eeth was not going to take away all the pain, nor could he; he was proficient at Force-healing for a field knight, but he was not a trained healer, after all. In any case, he thought that some lingering sting would help Eden remember this for a while. And that would certainly be a good thing. However, it would be no more than that. Eden was not going to suffer unduly.

Kneeling next to Eden's mat, he lightly rested his hands on Eden's bottom and focussed. Slowly, the dark red color turned into a lighter pink and the welts receded somewhat. "There," said Eeth. "It should be better now."

"Thank you," said Eden, giving Eeth a genuine smile. "My master never does that," was added in a tone that conveyed he did not expect Eeth to comment on that. He stood and twisted at the waist, trying to get a look at his ass. It wasn't nearly as painful now, nor did it look like a stoplight. It did, however, still sting a bit but he guessed it was meant to. He gave his butt a rub and pulled up his trousers.

The sun had long since gone down, but the light on their small table gave off a comfortable soft glow. It was nice here. Eden liked the sound of the ocean, and the waves crashing on the beach sent him to sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

Eden woke early the next morning. He had slept well despite the slight pain, and now he was excited about their trip to Taktaw. Sage had told them on their first night in Mauwag that the ship they were travelling on today would not take them directly to the wharf, but to B'tik, a small fishing village on the south coast. From there they would have to find some way of getting to the wharf that was being built at the north of the island. It was all very exciting for the eleven-year-old, but he was managing to keep a cool head. For now.

"I'm going to take a leak," he told Eeth, not sure if the man was awake but equally unwilling to leave without first saying where he was going. He did not bother with a shirt as the air was warm, even this early in the morning. He did, however, snag his comlink from the table and clipped it to his sleep pants.

Eeth had just woken up and had been about to rise and meditate. "Of course," he said quietly, rolling around and standing up from his bed in one fluid motion.

After meditation, they had a quick breakfast and packed their things. They stored everything they would not need for the trip on their starship and took a backpack each to the harbour. Given the climate, they left behind their cloaks, rain jackets and boots, wearing a set of long pants, a shirt and a pair of sandals each.

The ship was a freighter. It released a handful of passengers onto the quay, though; apparently, they were workers who had come home to see their families. There were no other passengers for Taktaw besides Eeth and Eden.

The captain took a look at them, especially at Eeth's strong arm muscles. "The fare is fifty credits for you and thirty for the boy," he said. "I'm short of men for the return trip, though; there has been a flu going around. I could take you for free in exchange for work on the ship."

This offer was more than welcome. Eeth had been worrying about money; cryonic acid was expensive, and his funds were not calculated for an extended stay on the planet plus ship repairs. Therefore, he readily said: "We will work."

Eden remained unnaturally still and quiet for a typical eleven-year-old; it had not occurred to him to change this in order to fit in with their secret identities. He did not know if eighty credits were a lot for a one-day trip or not. Anyway, the idea of working on a ship for the next twenty-four hours did not exactly thrill him, and he gave Eeth a quizzical look before whispering: "'We' will?", his tone suggesting that he did not appreciate being thrown into the equation.

Eeth merely gave him a severe look, which was heeded by Eden; the boy fell silent and stopped asking questions immediately.

"Great," the captain continued, not paying their exchange any mind. "Trip is twenty-four hours. Come aboard, I'll show you your cabin. It's a cabin for four, but since we have no other passengers, you'll have it to yourselves."

"Thank you," Eeth said politely and followed the captain below deck.

Only when they were in their cabin with instructions to report to the first officer in half an hour did Eeth comment on Eden's earlier question. "We will need all the credits we can save in order to buy cryonic acid. If working on the ship is worth eighty credits, there is really nothing to debate. You are young and healthy. Working should not be an issue."

"Sure I am, but what I can do to help is probably not going to be enjoyable," Eden replied, tossing his pack on the bunk closest to a port glass window.

"Your enjoyment," said Eeth sternly, "is not what this is about. You will do what you are asked to do."

Eden knew this, and so he remained silent. Who knew, maybe the captain would allow him to do some fishing; he'd always wanted to try that...

It turned out that the cook, a large, burly, bald man called Paris, needed assistance and that was going to be Eden's first job. Eeth was to work in the engine room; maintenance work was going to be carried out while the ship was underway and he was needed for the heavy work of dislodging and setting aside the parts that were to be cleaned and repaired.

Thanks to the flu that had left them short-staffed on the return trip, there was not a full ship to cater for. Still, after peeling his way through two bags of tubers, Eden was not happy about being set to work chopping vegetables and washing grain. He did it, in any case.

Paris didn't talk much but was very good at giving orders and instructing him on what needed to be done. When the boy was finished, he clapped Eden on the back. "Good job. You did that well," he told the kid and sent him to the engine room where they'd probably have him washing parts or assign him to another area.

Eden took his time getting there; he enjoyed the sunshine on the upper deck, the smell of salt in the air and he was in no hurry to arrive below deck. When he arrived, all the men were sans their shirts, and he could see why: they were covered in grease. Eeth was up to his elbows in some machine, another man was standing opposite, but it looked like Eeth was doing most of the actual lifting.

It took a minute for the men to notice Eden. When they did, they immediately asked him to help clean up and polish the greasy and dirt-encrusted engine parts that Eeth and another worker hauled over to him.

"Not a fun job, I know," the headman called Fann, said apologetically. "But we need the machines in working order by tonight. Tomorrow we'll continue our trip towards mainland Haikee, and we'll most likely be in rough waters."

Oh joy, thought Eden, but he did not dare voice that. After a brief explanation from Fann that was entirely in contrary to Paris's patient, well-explained instructions, he got to work. The man was correct; this was not a fun job. The degreaser might work on the engine parts, but it did nothing to dissuade the oil from clinging to his skin. It merely beaded and rolled off, leaving his hands feeling sticky and waxy.

He kept at this for an hour without complaint, but eventually, he wanted to take a break. After all, his patience for such things would only stretch so far, and he was thirsty. Swiping at his forehead with his discarded shirt, the boy stood and looked over to where Eeth was working. They were still pulling parts out. Eden couldn't help but compare himself to the other men. He looked at his dark chest, utterly hairless compared to all of them except Eeth and at best three times smaller. He puffed out his chest, but it did little more than make him look bloated, so he let the air out in a long audible breath.

The men looked around at hearing Eden's sigh. Eeth frowned at him. Fann, however, said: "You can take a short break. It's hot down here. If you're thirsty, there's a water dispenser in the back. Anyway, half an hour more and it'll be time for lunch."

Eden glanced from Fann to Eeth and paused, waiting for a no or something other than a disapproving frowny face. It really was hot in here, roasting hot. They were all sweating, filthy dirty and working far harder than the boy wanted to. 'Surely this is worth more than eighty credits?' he mused as he dipped his hand into some clean water and splashed his face.

Eeth interpreted Eden's hesitation correctly; he nodded at the boy to go ahead. "Come right back, though," he said. After all, they were given free passage in exchange for their work, and that meant that he felt obliged for both of them to give their best effort.

A little while later, they were shown to a shower room where they could clean up before lunch. Lunch itself was eaten under a tent roof on the deck, in a pleasant breeze, with what little was there of the crew.

"We'll have to hire more men in B'tik to make the trip to the mainland," the captain said to Eeth. "From what I heard, you're more than able. Are you interested?"

"No, thank you," Eeth said politely. "We just need to make a purchase at the building site for the new wharf, and then we'll head back to Auwago."

"Alright," said the captain with a sigh.

By the time they sat to eat lunch, Eden was starving, well, not literally but he would argue that if you asked him. He didn't care what it was; he just piled his plate high and, when it was polite to do so, started eating. He spent the first five minutes simply stuffing his face. When his belly began to feel full, he slowed down and listened more attentively to the conversations going on around him. He was both pleased and relieved when Eeth denied the request to stay on and work; he didn't relish the thought of another day of whatever horrors they came up with for him.

After lunch, Eeth and Eden were immediately dragged back to the machine room to continue with the same task as before.

"We are making fantastic speed," said Fann. "If we continue like this, we could be finished tonight. Your boy is really making himself useful, too. Mine would have started complaining long ago."

"He has been raised to be helpful," said Eeth calmly.

Eden had also been raised to expect his ass kicked if he didn't do as he was told, which was probably the main deterrent at work here. This was a shitty job and Eden didn't enjoy doing it. He looked up from his work briefly at Fann's comment and smiled a tiny bit. Had the man said that to truly compliment him? Or to ensure that there wouldn't be complaints starting up? Well, either way, Eden trudged on for another few hours before Paris stuck his head down. "I'll take the boy. He could probably use a break, and we have meals to prepare."

"Thank the GODS whoever they be!" the boy groaned and got to his feet. He swiped his hands on his trousers and wiped his face, the latter leaving a big dark grease line across his cheek. Then he looked to Eeth.

Eeth had just been about to lift a large wheel and fit it into a slot. He paused briefly and nodded at Eden. "Go ahead," he said, "but clean yourself up a little before you enter the kitchen." They would need to wash their clothes that night; they had only packed one set of spare clothes each, after all.

Eden refrained from rolling his eyes; of course he would clean himself up before he went into the kitchen! He didn't want to be told off for being a smartass in front of the men, though, so he kept that to himself.

On the upper deck, there was a large barrel of fresh water. How he wanted to sit in it! Instead, he tossed off his clothing and stood under the open shower. "I'll see you in there. I have to get some of this grease off me," he told Paris who had returned with a clean towel. Eden took his time, not in the actual shower itself because that was timed to preserve their fresh water, but with drying himself. His trousers were filthy dirty, and in hindsight, he should have just kept them on and tried cleaning them while he was washing himself. That would be a trick he would remember for next time. Instead, he wrapped the towel around his waist and made for their cabin. He tossed his clothing in a bucket of water. An entire cake of soap was added to the mix. Then he crashed on the bed. Oh, it felt so good, too! His body practically melted into the soft mattress. What he would not give to stay there for the rest of the day with a good adventure book to read.

"Chop, Chop, kid! We've got work to do," Paris said and clapped his hands loudly in emphasis. He had wondered what was taking Eden so long, but given that he had six children of his own, he suspected that the boy was dragging his feet.

Eden sprang to his feet immediately, almost tangling himself in his towel in the process. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had not detected the man's approach. Now that was saying something as Eden was hard to sneak up on. His sense of the Force usually kicked in even if he had not been focused. "Yeah, I was just, just, resting my eyes," he stammered. He quickly pulled some clean clothing from his pack and dressed. He wasn't sure how long he had lied there; it felt like no more than five minutes.

"Sure you were, but we got work to do that requires your eyes right now. You can rest 'em tonight after dinner."

Eden huffed. He'd been working all day!

Paris noticed this and put a comradely arm about his shoulders, his expression slightly amused. Then he led him to the kitchen.

* * *

When Eeth came to their cabin to change for dinner several hours later, he was pleased to see that Eden had had the good sense to soak his clothes. He added his own, plus some more water and soap, to the bucket, put on a clean shirt and a pair of pants, and went to look for the boy. He found him helping Paris bring out dinner.

"He looks dead on his feet," Fann remarked good-naturedly. "You should send him to bed after dinner. Not used to all that work, eh?"

"Not quite," said Eeth evenly. "Yes, we should probably turn in early. Unless you need us for something?"

The captain laughed. "No, man, both of you have done more than enough. From what I heard, the main engine is ready to bring us to the mainland and back."

"Yeah, they did a great job," agreed Fann. "Where are you going, anyway?"

"The wharf," said Eeth.

It turned out that Fann had a cousin who owned a speedboat. He promised to see them off tomorrow and ask his cousin whether he'd be willing to let the speedboat to Eeth and Eden.

"Do you need help cleaning up?" Eeth asked Paris when dinner was over, nodding at Eden to gather the dishes while he himself started throwing cutlery into a bucket.

Eden was almost falling asleep in his food. His eyelids were heavy, and he was getting a little whiny. Fortunately, it had not taken more than a few stern looks from Eeth over dinner to quash that, at least so far. He remained silent as the adults talked, happy to eat his food and go back for seconds. He had become fond of Paris, and likewise, the man had come to like his little kitchen hand. They worked well together. The boy was exceptionally good at following instructions, far more than Paris' children. He wondered how Eden's parents had managed to raise such a disciplined child. It was something he planned to ask Eeth if he sent the boy to bed.

Meanwhile, Eden was not living up to his reputation. He groaned at Eeth's orders but obeyed, crankily. "I wanna go to bed," he complained quietly as he collected everyone's plates.

Eeth could sense that the boy was really tired. "You will be allowed to, in a short while," he replied just as quietly. "When the table is cleared. I am willing to do your laundry for you and forego our evening meditation for once, but only if you stop whining this instant."

Eden huffed, putting the dish down a little harder than was strictly necessary. Eeth's offer was a generous one, though, he knew. He also knew that continuing to have a tantrum would probably land him back in the man's bad books, but he was tired and cranky.

Eeth's eyes narrowed, but knowing that Eden was overtired, and given the fact that he had not actually said anything, Eeth did not say anything either. Yet. But the look he gave the boy clearly told him that he was treading on thin ice.

The expression was not lost on the kid, but neither was it appreciated. He had had enough of Eeth's orders for today. Thus, he turned on his heel and stomped back to the table where he gathered the rest of the plates and returned to the sink. "'S'pose you want me to wash these with a toothbrush," he said, annoyed. It was then that he remembered what that brand of sarcasm had earned him last time, and he started washing without further comment.

"Don't worry about that, the rests of us can wash them," Paris interjected, hoping to ease the situation and perhaps save the kid from digging himself any deeper with Eeth. He wasn't a narky boy, as a rule, Paris could tell that, but being overtired didn't agree with him.

"Thank you," Eeth said quietly. He was inclined to take Eden up on his toothbrush suggestion, but he was not really keen on raising a scene in front of the staff who had been friendly and grateful for their help. Therefore, he grabbed Eden by the arm and dragged him into the corridor. As soon as they had left the mess, he turned the boy around, bent him forward against the wall and administered two solid swats to his backside. "I know you are tired and I am making allowances for that," he said sternly. "But continue like this and you will find yourself doing the laundry, instead of going to bed. You need to learn to control yourself. Am I understood?"

Eden could tell from the expression on Eeth's face that he'd probably crossed the line, and sure enough, as soon as they entered the corridor, he found himself facing the wall. His expression was piteous as were his quiet "ow's." It had not been swats of the teeth-rattling sort, but Force, the man had a hand on him like a rock. He sniffled, he couldn't help it, and swiped at his face with the back of his hand. He was acting like a baby he knew. "Yes, Sir," was all he said. He just hoped Eeth wouldn't give him any more.

"Good," Eeth said firmly. "Then get ready for bed. I will be in shortly."

He returned to the mess to help put away the dishes and exchange a few more words with Fann about the boat they might be able to rent. He hoped that by the time he returned to their cabin, Eden would be in bed. Eeth was a little tired himself; he was used to physical activity, but today's work had been extremely hard even on him. Still, he was planning on washing both their clothes before he turned in.

If Eden's bottom lip stuck out any further, the boy would be sure to fall over it. He rubbed his backside, muttering about the unfairness of this all and how Eeth was a tyrant all the way back to his bunk. When he got there, he fell on his bed. Of course, he had every intention of getting up, changing into sleep pants, brushing his hair and teeth, all those things he knew he ought to be doing right now, but the best-laid plans of mice and padawans… He was out like a light, face down and fully clad.

Meanwhile, Paris was busy doing the dishes while Fann was drying and putting them away. "Good boy you got there, even if he is a might cranky. He all right?" the man asked when Eeth entered.

"I sent him off to bed," Eeth said evenly. "He is used to helping out, but not as much and as heavy work as he did today. Thus, he was tired. However, I am sure he will live."

"Yeah, sure he will," replied Fann.

"He's not a typical kid," Paris mentioned conversationally.

"Neither are you typical, for that matter," added Fann, his expression curious but not imposing. If their new companions were more than they chose to disclose, that was up to them, after all.

"We come from Coruscant," Eeth replied simply. "Children grow up faster there; they need to. And we both come from families of former slaves. We have always known that we need to work harder than others to achieve something." That last bit, of course, was a blatant lie. Eeth had learned it from his master and found that it often satisfied people's curiosity under similar circumstances.

Eeth's answer was good enough for Fann and Paris. They continued to clean up for a while longer, their conversation light and focusing on the following day's workload.

* * *

Eeth entered the cabin and found Eden fast asleep in his clothes. He had half a mind to wake him; but then, the boy had already changed before dinner and besides, he had been overtired. Therefore, he gently shifted Eden so that the boy could breathe freely, covered him with a blanket and let him sleep. After a lengthy meditation, he turned in himself. They would both need their strength for tomorrow. It might be another demanding day.

Eden slept the sleep of the dead, barely moving all night. He woke the next morning, drool on his pillow and mouth gaping. God, was it morning already? Okay, so it was... unless Eeth was afraid of the dark and slept with the light on? He did not think that was the case, so he squinted his good eye. Nope, it was definitely morning. The boy groaned and threw his feet over the side of his bed. He couldn't quite focus yet, but he did not sense Eeth's presence in their room. He wasn't exactly enthusiastic about the day ahead. It was going to be a tough journey. But neither was he keen on earning himself any more reminders about his duty from Eeth. Force, that man had a hand on him like a board, he thought, getting to his feet and scratching his ass.

Eeth had risen earlier, performed his morning meditation and gone outside to fetch the laundry that he had hung out to dry last night. When he came back in, Eden was just exiting the refresher. "Good morning," Eeth said, giving him a small smile. "I have been told that we will arrive within an hour. I assume that you will be glad to leave this ship. The crew have been quite impressed with the work you did yesterday, though."

Eden gave the man a slight bow in way of greeting and then sat on his bed to pull on his boots. He still wasn't quite awake yet. "I'm glad we don't have another day of that. Aren't you sore, even a bit?" Eden wanted to know. His own back was a bit sore from crouching for hours, but he was surprised to find he was otherwise fine. Eeth, on the other hand, had spent hours busting his ass lugging huge metal parts.

Eeth shook his head. "It was demanding, even on me," he replied, "but I am used to the physical exercise. Here is your laundry. Pack up and let us do a very quick morning meditation. Paris prepared some breakfast for us. As soon as we arrive, Fann is taking us to see his cousin. Let us just hope he does not ask more for his speedboat than we can afford."

"I'm used to it, too, my master is always torturing me with physical exercise. Granted, he is not as intense as you have been these last few days," the boy admitted. He stood from the bed, stretched tall and moved to sit where bade.

Like the last few times they'd meditated, Eden linked with the man and immediately dropped his shields, flooding him with a torrent of pent-up frustration, anxiety, fear – all the things that he forced himself to push down until he had time to deal with them. The deluge of emotions would have overwhelmed anything Force sensitive within a mile of their ship, had Eeth not shielded and channelled it. Once the flood was starting to ebb a little, Eden started to sort through what was left himself. Jay had been teaching him to do this but given that it was Force work, and therefore not his top priority right now, he had not focused on it; Eden would pick that up fast enough when his other skills were at least acceptable. Also, at eleven years old, his stressors were relatively mild, and when they weren't, he had help to deal with them.

When Eeth signalled that they stop, Eden opened his eyes. "Thanks. You're pretty good at that," he said. He got to his feet, feeling far calmer than before. Eeth was probably right: missing out on this sort of joint meditations too often during this mission was not a good idea for him.

"You are welcome," Eeth said, not entirely sure how to respond to Eden's compliment. He did not understand compliments. Of course he was good. There were few Force-related techniques that he was not good at. That did not mean he considered himself perfect, not by a long shot; he knew there were a lot of things he needed to work on, and dealing with people was one of them. Well, he was getting good practice during this mission, that much was certain.


	7. Chapter 7

As promised, when they docked at B'tik the following morning, Fann took Eeth and Eden to find his cousin, Leif. Leif owned a speedboat that would be perfect for transporting them to the wharf being built at the northern end of Taktaw. Surely, there they would be able to get their hands on enough cryonic acid to see them safely back to Coruscant. Not that Eden was particularly eager to return; the truth was, he was enjoying all these new experiences, even if Eeth was a little harder on him than he would have liked.

Leif was dubious about lending them the speedboat. "Thing is," he said, "I was actually going to go to the wharf myself. Young Elis's parents want me to take him there. He's going to start an apprenticeship. I can't take two more. The boat won't hold more than two adults, at least not for a trip across the open sea."

"What if we took Elis?" asked Eeth. "I don't know how old and heavy he is, but Eden here is only eleven. That would be one adult and two youngsters."

Leif eyed Eeth and Eden critically.

"I think he knows what he's doing," Fann said. "He certainly knows his stuff with machines, and he's strong. The captain would have hired him on the spot if he'd wanted to."

"We'll pay in advance," Eeth said.

There was a little more haggling, but in the end, things were settled. Fann returned to the ship, and Leif sent his wife to fetch Elis and took Eeth and Eden to show them the boat. It was small, but Eeth could see that it was both sturdy and fast, and in good shape as well. It was probably their best bet to make it to the wharf fast.

Elis turned out to be a slender boy of around fourteen, with surprisingly blonde hair and deep brown skin. He had a bag slung across his shoulder. "Hiya," he said, grinning at them both. "So you're going to take me to the wharf, are you?"

"Yes," Eeth said. "I am Eeth; this is my business partner's son, Eden. We're from Coruscant, but our ship got stranded here. We want to make some purchases for our repairs at the wharf."

"Alright," said Elis cheerfully. "Let's leave then. I just managed to convince my mother to say goodbye to me at home. If we don't get away fast, she'll come running to the harbour after all."

Eden grinned. He had liked the kids he'd met so far, and Elis seemed to be just as likeable. The boat, however… He eyed it sceptically. It was about four and a half meters long and half as wide. Fuck, seriously? He looked from Elis, who jumped in with the ease of someone who had done so all his life, to Eeth. "You sure this thing will float with all of us in it?" he queried, adjusting his pack.

"Oh, yes," said Eeth matter-of-factly. "But it might be a rough ride at times, especially when we leave the shore, which we will have to do occasionally to cut across the bays. We will have to distribute our weight evenly. I will show both of you where to sit and you will stay put there. Leif told me it might just about be possible to arrive at the wharf by nightfall, but only if we take no more than a brief break, the sea is calm and the tides are good. We have no use for antics."

Elis had been riding boats all his life, although Leif had never before allowed him on his speedboat. Still, he knew what to do. "No antics," he agreed. "Come on, Eden. Jump in. Aim for the middle of the boat. And keep your balance."

Antics were the last thing on Eden's mind right now. He nodded once at Eeth, then looked where Elis was gesturing. Okay, it did not look all that steady to him, but he knew Eeth wouldn't lie to him. It was with that in mind, and the look on Elis's face, that he closed his good eye and jumped in. He used the Force to land flat as if he were bracing for an attack, his lowered position probably looking a little strange given that the other two were seated either side of him. He stood, but not too quickly, and then he sat.

Eeth stowed all their luggage away into a waterproof box and delegated Elis and Eden to seats at the stern of the boat while he took the wheel.

"I know this is going to be boring," he said, more to Eden than to Elis, "but I still expect you to stay seated when at all possible. The less any of you move around, the faster I can go. And hold tight."

While he started up the engine, Elis tossed Eden a waterproof jacket. "Here," he said. "You wouldn't believe it, but once we get going, it's going to get really cold from the spray and the wind."

"Thanks," Eden said, accepting the jacket, and pulled it on. He watched as Eeth stowed their packs. His lightsaber was in that, and he hoped it would be safe. He did not know if Eeth had his on himself or not. He hoped the man did as they didn't know this ocean or what was in it. That thought prompted a glance into the water. He half expected to see something pop up and was about to ask about the likelihood of predators when Eeth hit the engine and they were off. Like a shot! The smile on Eden's face grew wide. "Wahhhooo!" This was freaking AWESOME.

"Eeth, please, man, you gotta lemme drive?" he practically begged as they launched over a wave. His form of address was entirely informal, and it did make the Temple-raised padawan wince a little, but then again they were meant to be undercover.

"No, definitely not," Eeth yelled to be heard over the din of the motor and the waves. "If we want to make this trip by nightfall, we have no time for experiments. And this is not as easy as it looks."

"Spoilsport," the boy yelled back at Eeth. His expression was still elated as they bounced over another small swell.

"He's right," Elis said to Eden, watching Eeth who, to his slight surprise, seemed to know exactly what he was doing, hitting the waves at the right angle not to catch water and steering clear of rocks. "D'you suppose he'd let me drive, though?"

Eden looked to Elis when he asked about driving and shrugged. The guy looked like he could be a few years older than himself, perhaps fourteen or so, but he couldn't be sure. "He might, although if he's not gonna let me, I doubt he'll let you either." It was an honest answer; from what little he knew of Eeth, he did not like his chances.

"Hey," Elis called to the front. "Can I drive, then? I know how to drive a boat, and I'm fourteen already!"

Eeth was currently busy swerving round a swarm of rather large fish, or possibly mammals. He considered the request briefly, but only very briefly. "No!" he called back. "Leif made it my job to get you to the wharf, not the other way around. Besides, the boat would get too heavy in the back and too light in front."

Elis huffed. "He's probably right again," he admitted to Eden in an undertone. "I just need to grow more, but nothing I do or eat seems to make my body hurry up."

"I'm familiar with that problem," Eden replied with a huff that was partially for effect, but mostly due to having hit a wave and the boat bouncing him on the seat. He was glad his ass wasn't sore. This would have been pure torture if it was. He looked at Eeth. The man was huge compared to him. He wondered if that was because Zabrak were naturally more prone to build muscle, or if it was his supremely disciplined personality. He thought about asking, but then they hit another wave, and he ducked just in time to miss catching a face full of water. "Whoa, this is freaking awesome. If we make it to the other side, can you let me drive then?" he shouted. It was a long shot, but this just looked like SO much fun!

"No!" shouted Eeth. Eden was eleven, he had no clue how to operate a speedboat, and it would take at least several hours to teach him the basics. There was no way they were going to have that kind of time to spare.

"Do you say anything other than 'NO?" Eden complained.

Eeth chose to ignore this comment. Of course he said other things than 'no'. Right now, though, he had to focus on driving the boat and that was more difficult than it looked. The problem was, he realised as they made their way across rough seas, sometimes nearly losing sight of the island as they cut across bays, he had no decent navigation equipment. He had a satellite picture and knew where they had started and where they were supposed to go, but it was difficult to match the coastline with his map. It was all covered in tropical forests, with no discernible settlements. After having driven for an hour, he had only a vague idea how much headway they had made, and after two hours, all that was left was guesswork. This was annoying; usually, Eeth prided himself on always knowing where they were. He decided to take a break around lunchtime and find out their whereabouts. That way, he would be able to tell whether they would make it to the wharf by nightfall or whether they had rather seek a campsite somewhere and continue in the morning. They needed the break anyway; there was no room to move on the boat and even Eeth found the ride tedious after several hours.

By the time they stopped for a break, Eden was also feeling sick of the ride. It had been awesome at first, but given that all they were allowed to do was sit there and bounce around in the boat, it did get old after a while. Eeth drove the boat up into the sand, and they all jumped out. Eden leapt from the boat to the sandy shore, using the Force to steady his landing. Due to the fact that he only had eyesight in one eye, his depth perception could be off. He had learned from a young age not to trust his eyes when it came to stuff like this. He glanced back to Elis who had just jumped and landed next to him. "We've got food in our packs. Paris is a pretty good cook, have you met him before?" he asked the teen. Eden wasn't sure what experiences Elis had, but he was curious to know.

Elis nodded. "Yeah, he's a distant relation, like most of the people on that ship," he said. "Maybe I'll join them when I'm older. My dad said I'd better get a little bigger and learn about machines first, though, or I'd end up sweeping the deck and peeling potatoes the whole time."

"Or worse, cleaning grease off parts. I had to do that. It sucked," replied Eden. The latter was said in a stage whisper, but Eeth did not rise to his bait.

Eeth, in the meantime, was scanning their surroundings. To the north, the landscape rose to a high hill from which water was streaming, joining the sea to their south. "I shall climb the hill and see where we are and how far we have to go," he told the boys, "You stay here. If there is any kind of problem, Eden can comm me."

Neither boy took issue with these instructions, both giving a nod in reply. When Eeth had left, Eden asked Elis where he thought the best place to eat was and followed him to the base of a huge palm tree. It was not far from the boat, as neither of them wanted to let it out of their sight should something unforeseen happen. The last thing they wanted was to be stranded here. "Here," Eden said, tossing the teen a wrapped sandwich. "It will be great; I'm sure Paris could make a bantha turd taste à la carte."

"Thanks," said Elis, lying back and propping himself up on one elbow to eat his sandwich. "That Eeth – do you think he'll let us drive if we really insist? My father nearly always gives in if you ask him really nicely. Leif doesn't, though. He's a real hardass. Luckily, he's just my mother's third cousin or so."

"Doubt it, Eeth can be a pain in the ass." Literally. The latter he kept to himself for the moment. Eden knew that some colonies did not believe in corporal punishment and he did not want to offend anyone. He took a huge bite of his sandwich; it was delicious, and he finished it fast. He eyed Eeth's portion hungrily. He wouldn't eat it on him, of course, but the thought crossed his mind. Eden grinned as he watched the boat pitch and roll. Driving it did look like fun, he had to admit that, and he didn't blame Elis for wanting to try it.

Elis glanced at the hill. It was overgrown by trees; from the beach, it was impossible to see Eeth and the reverse was probably true as well. "Tell you what," he said. "We wait till we see Eeth at the top. Then we know how long it took him to get there and can estimate how long the descent will take. And while he comes down, we go for a quick ride in the boat. I know how to drive one. Besides, he only told us to stay here. And we will. We won't go out of sight of the beach or anything." The truth was, Leif had never ever allowed him to drive his speedboat, but Eden and Eeth did not need to know that. Besides, Elis did indeed have plenty of experience driving slower boats.

Despite his less than stellar behaviour since being under Eeth's care, Eden wasn't a reckless personality. He contemplated Elis's suggestion for a while, his expression thoughtful. It would be fun, he knew that, and maybe if he agreed, Elis just might let him have a go at it? Now that was worth the risk. Besides, Elis was right: Eeth was out of sight. But whether or not he would hear them from that distance was a risk, and then there was his sense of the Force, not that he could tell Elis that. Well, he knew a bit about shielding and concealment, and he was well-versed for an eleven-year-old. This might work. "It's a risk. If he catches us, shit is going to be trumps," he said, waiting to gauge the teen's reaction to that news.

Elis shrugged. "I suppose so," he said. "The question is, would it be so bad that it wouldn't be worth the risk?"

Eden had to think about that. From what little he knew of Eeth, yes, it would be so bad! New knight or not, no, it wasn't worth the risk! Then again, he was unsure of how Eeth would handle it, should he catch out a local. Elis was not a Jedi or a padawan; he was a local teenager. Perhaps that was the boon that would spare them, should they be busted? Eden wasn't sure, and his expression said as much. "You can really drive that thing? And, you would be willing to give me a shot at it?" he queried, weighing up their options.

"Yeah, if we kept away from the rocks and you promised not to go too fast," said Elis. "I've never capsized, but I don't want this to be the first time either. This is a fairly light boat, after all. But there are hardly any waves in the bay. What could possibly go wrong?"

Eeth could catch us, that is what could go wrong, Eden thought, but he did not say as much. Instead, he stood and brushed off his pants - he was entirely sick to death of sand – and squinted up towards the hill where Eeth was nowhere to be seen nor sensed. "You seem to know what you're doing, and I have to admit that if we make this fast, there is little chance we will get caught." He thought for another moment then tapped his finger against his chin. "Yes, I think it's worth it."

According to his commlink It took Eeth another twenty minutes to reach the top of the hill, that gave them at least half an hour, clear.

At the top of the hill were trees, too. Elis had been wondering how Eeth had been planning to see anything from up there. But when they had finished their lunch and taken a dip in the sea, they noticed one of the trees shaking violently. "He's climbing one of the banyaran trees?" Elis said, impressed. "He must be mightily fit. How did he learn it? Are there even trees on Coruscant?"

Eden did not have Elis's sight, so when the teen pointed out what he saw he immediately turned his senses to Eeth. "Yeah, he works out." He wished he had a readymade reply to how Eeth had such skills, but he did not. Thinking fast, the boy kept up his casual expression and shrugged. "Who knows what that guy does in his spare time. Eeth fits the 'eccentric uncle' schema, I have to be honest." He hoped that did not deviate too far from their story to be believable.

Fortunately for Eden, Elis let the matter drop; he was too busy watching the hilltop intently. "He's coming down," said Elis. "C'mon. Let's go as long as we have time. And don't worry about the noise; among the trees, he won't hear anything but the birds."

Eden nodded. He glanced up towards the hill, unable to make out more than a fuzzy horizon line with his poor eyesight. His gaze darted back to Elis, and again he hesitated; if Eeth caught him doing this, he was probably not going to be pleased. He'd said no, after all. Then again, he could hardly let Elis go alone, that would surely be considered irresponsible. Still, he was mindful of the fact that his lightsaber was back on the beach, which prompted a question as Elis untied the anchor. "Is there anything that can kill us in this ocean?"

Elis laughed. "Not this close to the beach," he said. "Too shallow for goar-sharks. Besides, they don't attack boats, only swimmers. C'mon."

Eden was mollified that they were not going to be eaten by sea monsters and confident that Eeth's Force presence was still and out of range. So they pushed the boat into the water, waded in behind it and jumped aboard.

Elis started the ignition and carefully turned the boat until the bow was pointing outwards. He knew not to accelerate too much at first; they were too close to shore, and he needed to get used to the boat. However, once they were safely away from the beach, he went for top speed, and they discovered that that was even faster than Eeth had gone. "Woohoo!" they both yelled as Elis drove a long curve toward the southern edge of the bay while the water sprayed behind them.

Eden's smile was so big that he inhaled a mouthful of sea spray and didn't even care that it burned as it came out his nostrils. This was so much more fun than before. They were getting a meter or more of air at some points, and it was thrilling. "I wanna try, please, c'mon," Eden begged when they had been at this for five minutes. Eeth would never let him, and it looked like so much fun.

"Alright," said Elis readily, slowing down. "But don't go as fast as I did. And be careful when we switch places. And don't go too near the beach, or to the northern end of the bay. There must be rocks out there. You can see it because there's foam; it's where the waves break." He showed Eden how to accelerate, brake and steer and then crawled to the stern of the boat.

Eden nodded his head curtly at each instruction. When Elis started to crawl to the other side, he did the same, making sure to keep the weight even as he had been told. Unlike Elis, Eden had ready access to the Force, something he used here to compensate for his lack of navigational savvy. When he sensed danger, he switched direction; it was far more reliable than his poor eyesight. This was the most fun the kid had had in, well, in forever! Their boat skimmed the waves, gaining a little air even though he kept his speed to an acceptable level. He could have gone much faster, he knew, but that was not something he'd be able to explain to Elis. After about five minutes of this, he slowed and checked the gauges, as a thought occurred to him. "How much fuel will we need and, I hope Eeth won't notice the small amount missing? Is the gauge built like that?" he questioned.

In truth, Elis had no idea how this boat operated; he hadn't even thought of fuel. "Oh, I'm sure it will be alright," he said bracingly.

Eden didn't like the sound of that, not that he telegraphed as much in his expression. He glanced at the dials and gadgets, his own limited experience with starships providing diddly squat here. He scratched his head. "C'mon let's swap and get back, I don't want to risk using up so much fuel that Eeth notices, or worse, we get stranded here." Of course, his priorities there were reversed: he'd far rather be stranded here than have Eeth find out they had taken it upon themselves to have a bit of fun without his permission. He set the engine to idle. "If I cause him too much trouble, he might just decide not to bring me along next time, and I love coming on these trips with him," the boy explained and squinted up at the hill where they had last seen Eeth. He could sense that the man was still at quite a distance, but that was the extent of it; he just wasn't well enough acquainted with Eeth's Force signature to pinpoint his exact location, something else that made the kid uneasy.

Meanwhile, Eeth hurried down the slope. From his lookout position in the tree, he had managed to identify their position and found that they had not made as good time as he had hoped. They really needed to get going. And even then, it might not be enough. Since nightfall came early in these parts, they might still have to set up camp somewhere. He could have easily driven the boat by night, of course, drawing on his sense of the Force, but that would have been impossible to explain away.

At that point, Elis discovered a problem: He had no experience landing the boat onto the beach, like Eeth had done. Several times, he miscalculated the speed that he needed in order to achieve this. He came in too slowly, not wanting to damage the boat, with the result that the waves carried it back into the bay. Noticing Eden's nervous glances towards the fringe of the forest, he revved up the engine, flinching slightly at the noise. This time, the boat was practically rammed into the sand, so hard that it would prove difficult to get it out again; and what was worse, the new landing site was several meters away from the old one, the traces of which could easily be seen.

"Quick, maybe he won't notice," Elis whispered to Eden, hastily turning off the engine and jumping from the boat.

"He IS going to notice; we have to try and fix this." Eden could, of course, move the boat using the Force, but that would give them away. He started pulling and pushing, doing his best to dislodge it but to little effect. "C'mon, help me out here." Unfortunately, the boat was really freaking lodged in there! And there was going to be no moving it.

Eeth was coming down the hill fast. One of the reasons for this was a vague sense that something was off. Besides, he knew the terrain by now, and he was impatient to get going again. Thus, it was only a minute later that he emerged from the woods onto the beach. He took in the scene and made a few educated guesses. And frowned.

"What," he asked icily, striding up to the boat, "do you think you are doing?"

Having been wholly focused on dislodging their boat, Eden had not sensed Eeth's presence until the last moment. He grabbed Elis by the shirt and tried to pull him around, but it was too late. Eden was a dreadful liar, he really was. "We were, just… messing with the boat. It looked like it was drifting off from where you anchored it, and… Sure enough!" he told the man, once again trying to dislodge it from the bank with little success; Elis had really lodged it in there, and there was no way it was coming out, and no way that story was going to fly. Eden realised that and gave a deflated sigh. Maybe Elis could come up with something better?

"Well, the thing is," Elis submitted, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could while such a supremely ominous look was directed at him, "the boat was drifting off, so I jumped in and drove it back onto the beach."

"Which is why both of you were desperately trying to shift it?" Eeth asked coolly. He knew perfectly well that, for the boat to be lodged into the sand like this, it would not have sufficed to jump in and steer it back from a few meters' distance. Besides, both boys acted exceedingly guilty. "Your story is not plausible," he informed them. "I would advise you to come clean, now."

Elis looked at Eden helplessly. He did not know Eeth and had no idea what was the best course of action here.

The best course of action was ultimately going to be the most difficult to follow, Eden knew, but if the look on Eeth's face was anything to go by, he considered himself lucky to have been given a second chance to explain. Elis had given it a decent enough shot, but it was not going to be enough to fool Eeth. He looked at the man, whose expression was ominous, and wrinkled his nose. What was it with this guy and his supremely inconvenient timing?

Eden took a small step back, subconsciously keeping himself out of reach. Rationally he knew that this would not save him, but he was an eleven-year-old Jedi padawan about to confess to disobedience on a mission, to the most unforgiving of babysitters. "Ah, Uncle Eeth. You see, we were eating lunch and we decided that, since Elis knew how to drive, and you were going to be a while up there, that, that…" Come on, spit it out, he silently coached himself. He swallowed. "That we would go for a bit of a ride in the boat." Both hands came up, and Eden took another step back. "Look, man, it was just around this little area, we didn't go near the rocks or do anything reckless." He had purposefully chosen that word as recklessness was probably up there with disobedience for an apprentice, especially a very young apprentice. His master would have handed him his ass, had he tried something like this; he had no idea what he had been thinking.

It had, of course, crossed his mind to incorporate Elis' story into his own, to say that they had noticed the boat moving, come to the rescue and got carried away. However, he'd already lied once, and he did not like to lie; he was dreadful at it! Besides, Eeth had an uncanny ability to sniff out bullshit; it was quite impressive, given that they lacked a formal training bond. He would have to ask him about that later, uh, if he survived. Right now, he had bigger issues than a lousy poker face.

"Right," Eeth said, the expression on his face thunderous. He had no idea what had got into Eden to keep disobeying and neglecting his duties like this, but he was going to have to give the boy yet another very good incentive not to do it again. Not now, though; they simply lacked the time for that, and besides, Elis was around. Not that Eeth was happy with Elis, but the boy was not his concern.

Nonetheless, he thought he'd better make sure there was no more trouble during the rest of the trip. Therefore, he pulled out his paddle and ordered: "Bend over, both of you. I will make clear to you how absolutely unacceptable your behaviour was. If you remember this during the rest of the ride, maybe you will just manage to keep out of trouble until tonight. Eden, we will discuss this more thoroughly in private."

Elis stared at him, wide-eyed. It was not that he was new to corporal punishment as such; if this had been Leif, he would have entirely expected to be put across the man's knee. He had just not reckoned with Eeth making it his business to punish him, nor did he have any idea why the man was carrying a paddle with him during a speeder boat ride! "I don't think you should be doing that," he objected. "You are not even a relative or anything!"

"Your father put me in charge of you during this trip," Eeth said, stony-faced. "Apparently, he did not foresee that it would take you no more than half a day to create trouble. If you object to being punished by me, though, very well. I will inform your family when we return and leave it to them to deal with you."

Elis' eyes went wide. His father would be absolutely pissed if he heard about this! "No, that won't be necessary. Sir," he said hastily. With a pained look on his face, he bent forward.

Okay, so any hopes Eden had clung to that Elis' presence was going to spare them both went to hell in a handbasket. His eyes widened at receiving the order to bend over, unknowingly mirroring the teen's expression, but unlike Elis, Eden did not say a word. He simply turned to face the boat, put his hands on the bow – it wasn't like it was going anywhere! – and braced himself. If his ass clenched up any tighter, you could bounce a coin off it. How they were expected to sit for the rest of this trip while bouncing around on a hard seat was beyond him, as was the question how he had managed to get himself into this situation! He stared at his hands, his breathing quickening as he heard Elis acquiesce. Neither of them were going to enjoy the rest of this boat ride.

Eeth was fully aware that both boys were going to have to sit on their paddled bottoms for the rest of the trip. He wanted to make this uncomfortable, but not excruciating. He also wanted to make short work of this. Therefore, he dealt out twelve fast swats to each of the boys, at medium force - first Elis, then Eden.

Elis only just managed to keep still while he received his paddling. He could tell that Eeth did not swat him as hard as he might have, but Force, did it sting! He hissed through clenched teeth, and by the time the paddling was over, his eyes were bright with tears. Slowly and stiffly, he righted himself, only to witness Eden's turn. Embarrassed, he looked the other way, wanting to grant the boy a minimum of privacy.

Eden winced in sympathy at hearing each smack connect with his friend's ass. It wasn't the gunshot sound he had anticipated, though, and for that, he was thankful, although judging from the hisses coming from Elis, it was hurting plenty. Sure enough, he clenched even tighter as he sensed Eeth's presence behind him, then let out a hiss of pain himself; it stung and burned at the same time. Okay, so it wasn't the teeth-rattling extravaganza he had gotten last time, not even close, but it still stung like nothing else. He tried to move his hips forward into the boat, but it didn't make any difference; Eeth must have adjusted and it still nailed him just as hard. He bounced on his toes for the next few, and by the time Eeth was done with him, he was sniffling quietly. He stood slowly and quickly swiped at his nose and eyes with his sleeve. Elis wasn't crying, and he did not want to look like a baby, little as he could hide the fact that he was in pain. "Ow," he complained, rubbing at the seat of his trousers and giving Eeth as hard a look as he could muster.

"I think," Eeth said quietly and sternly, "this is not the right occasion to give me an attitude. And we will talk more about why that is. For now, we need to get the boat back into the water. We might not make it by nightfall as it is, and Leif absolutely forbade me to drive at night. Thus, if we even want a chance to reach the wharf tonight, we need to get going."

For the first time since they were busted, Eden registered Eeth's words; they were going to talk more about this later? He absolutely did not want to rehash this with Eeth!

It turned out that the boat was nearly impossible to move. In the end, Eeth used the Force to push it out from the sand although he tried to make it appear as if it was their combined strength that did it. He definitely did not want to wait until the tide came in! He held the boat while the boys jumped in, then climbed in himself. Having had no time for lunch, he ate his sandwich while steering one-handed.

Once they were boarded, and on their way, Eden's mind was on little more than finding a comfortable position that didn't exacerbate the state of his ass. It was near impossible, of course, especially at the rate they were bumping around in the boat. He took off his jacket and stuffed it under his ass, but then he got cold.

Thankfully, they entered calmer waters after an hour or so, which gave both boys a reprieve. It also made the conversation less of an effort as they didn't have to shout to be heard. Eden was still not happy with Eeth. Sure, he had earned that, and then some, but he didn't care! Could he get away with nothing? What sort of a new knight was this guy, anyway? They had just been having a little fun. The more he thought, the more annoyed he became, not just with Eeth but also with himself. He was not behaving in a way that Jay would approve of.

They made fairly good speed that afternoon, but as the sun was setting and the wharf still nowhere in sight, Eeth was forced to concede that they would need to set camp overnight and complete their trip early next morning. He had promised Leif not to drive at night, after all. Therefore, he steered the boat closer to the coast, slowing down in order to watch out for rocks, and looked for a landing site. The coast was rocky here and had high cliffs. He had to drive on until the sun had nearly sunk below the horizon until he finally came to a cleft in the cliffs, giving way to a beach that rose high enough not to be flooded by the rising tide. There was also a small stream of sweet water and what appeared to be a cave. Eeth decided not to run the boat into the beach this time for fear of damaging it on the rocks. Instead, he brought it close to a large rock, climbed off and towed it to a tree. The sea was calm, and the boat had bumpers; it would not take damage.

Eden jumped out to help, but he didn't know what he was doing. Elis was more useful when it came to the boat, and so he focused on getting their packs onto the beach without getting them drenched. He stood on the pebbly shore, dusting sand from his clothing. He was starting to hate the sand, although the heat at this time of day was comfortable. Force, it felt good to be off his ass. It wasn't hurting so much now, but that trip had been the most uncomfortable he had endured in a long time. They did not have any food left as Paris had only made them enough to last the day, but they did have energy bars and a few ration sticks, not that this was at all that tasty. Eden looked around the shore up to the cave Eeth had pointed out earlier and wondered if there was anything edible around here.

Eeth went to check out the cave and found that it was dry, not very deep and had a sandy floor that would make sleeping there quite pleasant. He found a few blankets and emergency rations in the boat and brought them up to the cave. By this time, darkness had fallen. Fortunately, the planet had three moons with the result that there was usually a minimum of light – not enough to really see where one was going, but enough not to bump into large objects or into each other.

Eeth and Eden had brought torches, and Eeth lit one now. "Are we likely to find anything edible in the forest?" he asked Elis. "Else we will have to make do with biscuits and energy bars."

"The northern part of the island is full of goya palms," Elis replied. "Goyas are a kind of large nut. Tasty and nourishing. We often pluck them when we're on fishing trips. Oh, and there should be fishing rods in the boat. We could go nighttime-fishing."

Eeth decided that Elis and Eden should try to catch some fish. He himself would go up the cliffs and look for goya palms, and on his way back he would bring firewood. "And no more nonsense," he told both boys sternly. "I really mean it."

Eden just looked at him. Was he serious? Apparently so, and the look on his face prompted an answer. "Yes, Sir."

He headed back to the boat with Elis and started rummaging around for fishing poles. He'd never done this before and had no idea what to do. So, when Elis started fishing, Eden did his best to copy him.

Elis realised that Eden had no clue how to do this and showed him. Eden's torch helped; it attracted a number of fish. By the time Eeth was back with an armful of goya nuts and a bag of firewood, they had caught three fish. Elis and Eeth prepared them quickly. Elis had found a crust of salt on one of the cliffs that they used for seasoning. Eeth lit a fire in the mouth of their cave and they grilled the fish above it. Elis then showed them how to crack open the goya nuts and extract the flesh.

Eden had a go at opening one of the nuts himself which left him spitting out the odd bit of husk, but for the most part, he was successful.

It was a quite good meal, all things considered, and there was no need for energy bars. Eeth was glad of it because they would probably need to spend at least one more night out in the wild.

"How much longer until we reach the harbour?" Eden asked, curious to know how close they were and how much longer they would have to sit in the boat the following day.

"No more than two hours, possibly only one," replied Eeth. "We will leave as soon as it gets light. That way, if we are lucky and find our cryonic acid, we can start on the return trip tomorrow and be back at B'tik. the day after tomorrow. Then, it will depend on when the next ship comes by."

"Ask Leif if he'll take you to Auwago in the speedboat," Elis advised. "He makes the trip once a week anyway, and if he gets a bit of payment, he might schedule it accordingly."

Eeth nodded. He just hoped they would have some credits left after having paid for the cryonic acid!

Two hours: that was better than Eden had thought and welcome news. He nodded at Elis' suggestion. If they could afford a ride back in the speedboat it would be good since having to work that trip back on a long-haul boat was not at all appealing.

Eden finished his dinner first and then sat quietly. He was full as a boot, because despite Eeth's unyielding personality, Eden got the feeling that he somehow understood what it was like to be hungry all the time.

When he had finished his meal as well, Elis took the fishing rods to the boat and went to clean up the dishes in the sea. He was distinctly wary of Eeth by now.

Eeth made use of the opportunity to say to Eden: "You are not getting out of having a serious talk about your disobedience. The only reason I have waited this long was because I did not want Elis to be around. Most likely, we will be on our own tomorrow."

"Don't you think I've suffered enough? My master is going to go to town on me when he finds out about this as it is," Eden replied in a semi-sulking tone. He had had high hopes that Eeth would forget about that "talk".

"Yes, and I am sure he would be exceedingly unhappy with me if I let this slide," Eeth said drily. And that was that. He was not the type to forget about things, nor was he going to neglect what he definitely considered his duty.

Thankfully, the nights never became very cool around here, and the few blankets they had sufficed. Elis had brought an armload of dry palm leaves to sleep on, which was actually quite comfortable.

Eden sprawled out on his pile of leaves and pulled the blanket around himself. It was a clear night. The air smelled of salt and wood smoke from the fire; a combination that he found oddly relaxing. He lay there for a while thinking about his master and the failing negotiations in Antaeus. He also thought about the continued punishment Eeth had promised him for his ill-advised decision to drive the boat. The boy huffed and rolled over to face the cave wall; he was far from thrilled but nor did he have a valid argument to get himself out of it. Well, he would simply have to come up with something tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: If any of you are interested in how Eeth fares with his first padawan, Lakhri: two stories on this has just been uploaded to the author profile of Livia Yoran. The first of them is called "Gratitude" and takes place a bit more than a year after Eeth has taken Lakhri as a padawan. The corporal punishment it contains is comparatively light, by Eeth's standards, and it contains some comfort and character development, if you're looking for that kind of thing. ;) The second is called "Bravado" and takes place when Lakhri is 22. The corporal punishment in this is rather harsh but there's also some bonding. Enough advertising. Now enjoy reading this chapter in which Eden gets his comeuppance for the unauthorised boat ride!

* * *

When the sky had just begun to brighten, Eeth shook the boys awake. It was early and they needed to get a move on, "Get up," he said. "We really should get going. And maybe take a quick swim to get clean before we leave."

"Master, please," Eden groaned; he was still half asleep. He woke fast, though, as Eeth gave him a slightly firmer shake. For a moment, he did not remember where he was. Then Eeth's Force presence and his face came into semi-focus, and the past few days flashed through his mind. Eeth, Ellis and himself were camped out on a stretch of coast somewhere between their landing point of B'tik and the northern end of Taktaw where they were hoping to find some cryonic acid. The boy's eyes widened very slightly when he realised what he'd said. Quickly, he shook off the fogginess of sleep and got to his feet. "I was having a weird dream about being taken hostage by slavers. They were forcing me to work," he offered in way of explanation for the term of address he had used with Eeth. He gave Elis a grin and looked up at Eeth. "Probably some truth to that this trip." Not wanting to press his luck so early on in the day, he quickly went about doing as he had been instructed, helping to pack the boat and cleaning up after themselves so as not to leave anything that might be harmful to the environment or its local inhabitants.

Fortunately, If Elis thought anything of Eden's slip, he didn't let on. They had a quick breakfast of goya nuts and energy bars. Then Eeth insisted they take a swim, which Elis, after having grumbled a bit, realised was just the thing he needed after having sat still inside a waterproof jacket for most of yesterday. He felt wonderfully refreshed after that and ready for the rest of the trip.

They left shortly thereafter, speeding along the coast. Less than one and a half hours later, the building site came into view. Eeth steered the boat towards a jetty where a supervisor came to meet them. He had been expecting Elis and promised to bring the boy to the distant relation who was going to look after him and see to it that he got settled into his new work.

"Bye, Eden," Elis said cheerfully. "Bye, Eeth. Hope you find your cryonic acid!"

"Goodbye, Elis. I was glad to have met you," Eden replied. He had honestly been happy to spend time with the teen. He was fun despite the trouble they had gotten themselves into. He found himself briefly wondering if – unlike himself – Elis would have the option to forego telling Leif or his caretakers about their boat ride. He kind of hoped he did. They'd both gotten the backsides paddled off of them for it, after all, or so Eden would claim. Oh well, no point focusing on the future when his attention ought to be here.

According to Elis' supervisor, they would be able to find what they were looking for in the central hub area. It was a small gathering of machinery and parts shops that had been constructed solely to service the build, and stood out like bantha balls in comparison to the other village shops. Eden took a quick look around and then glanced up at Eeth, waiting for instructions.

Eeth nodded for Eden to follow him and made for the most promising-looking shop. To his pleasant surprise, it offered large stores of cryonic acid at a moderate price. Up until now, it had started to seem as if nothing was going right on this mission; finally, it seemed as if things were working out. Eeth purchased two vats and payed for them. Then he told Eden: "I will see about transporting them back to the boat. Could you buy us some provisions for the ride back? Enough to last us for two days, maybe with a reserve."

"I can," Eden replied and pocketed the credits Eeth gave him. They did not have a lot left, nor did they have infinite space in their packs, so he shopped around. First, he went to a small hut that smelled of smoked meats and bought several long strips of salted fish. The store owner thought him handicapped thanks to his eyes and thrown in an extra piece for free. Eden was about to object, but he really could use the extra food. He was always starving, after all, and Eeth had eaten roughly the same amount as he during this part of their journey. He thanked the woman for her kindness and made his way to the next line of stores. Given that the vendors came from a nearby fishing village, it was mostly fish, grains and a lot of fruit. There was also a small amount of meats available, especially some sort of roasted fowl which looked too delicious to pass up.

When he returned to Eeth an hour later, he had gotten quite a selection. "Salted fish, dried fruits, fresh roasted, uh, I think it's a bird of some sort, a packet of tea, a bag of nuts and a large chunk of dense, thick bread. That should feed me. What are you going to do, though?" he joked.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. He recognised the joke, but he never knew how to deal with jokes, so he usually pretended they did not exist.

"If we are fortunate," he said drily, "we will find more goya nuts on the way back. Else, we will have to catch fish or go hungry."

By now Eden half expected his humour to fall flat and just gave a small snort when it did.

It was not even noon by now. Eeth saw some workers passing by the jetty with what looked like thin stuffed loaves of bread. He looked for the food stall where they had bought them and found that they were inexpensive, so he bought two. Returning to the boat, he handed one to Eden. "Let us eat this and have a drink," he said. "After that, we will set off." The bread wraps turned out to contain chunks of fish, decorated with a sprinkle of something greenish that was spicy-hot. Eeth rather liked it; he often found human food too bland for his Zabrak taste buds.

"S' HOoodt!" complained Eden. He had his mouth open, tongue hanging out as he fanned it with his hand. That green stuff was hot and not something he was used to, not that he cared; the kid would eat absolutely anything.

The day was starting to heat up by now. So far, their trip had been anything but straightforward. They'd been forced to make an emergency landing in the Niwago islands, worked their way from Mauwag to B'tik on a long-haul ship, talked their way into renting a speedboat and picked up an unlikely passenger to ferry into Taktaw. Now they were looking to make the return journey. Eden wrinkled his nose. This was turning into a bit of an adventure, and if he were honest with himself, he would much rather be out doing something like this than heading back to the Temple where he would be lumped with a bunch of school again.

Eeth, however, was adamant about leaving this planet at the earliest opportunity. He had tried to gather some information on events in the capital, but what he had heard was rather sketchy. Apparently, the situation was deteriorating and there was fighting in the streets. It was definitely a good thing to have removed Eden from the capital area, even if they were still stuck on Antaeus.

He ordered Eden back into the boat and switched the motor on. It occurred to him that there really might be time to let Eden drive for a while and teach him something about boats and currents, but he decided to postpone that until after Eden had taken his punishment for driving said boat unauthorised. Anything else seemed too much like rewarding the boy for bad behaviour.

"Can I drive?" Eden asked when the same thing occurred to him. They had been travelling for a couple of hours now, and the kid was getting bored. It was also at the point where they were almost out of the calmer waters and into the more choppy sea; the wind would pick up, and the boat would become more difficult to control. He knew there was more chance that Eeth would let him drive it now, then in another couple of hours in the rougher oceans.

"Not today, no," Eeth replied. He wanted to make the most of the afternoon; that way, they might leave the rough waters behind themselves by late afternoon and would not have a full day's trip left for tomorrow. Eden would get to drive then, but Eeth was not going to tell him that now. He presumed that this trip was rather boring to the boy, especially since he had no company now, but that could not be helped.

He revved up the engine and steered the boat out into the sea, both to cut a cross a large bay and to avoid rock clusters that lined the shore for the next dozen kilometers or so.

"Why not?" Eden asked plainly. Sure, it was a tad brazen of him to ask after yesterday's joyride, but he was bored.

"One, because the sea is too rough for a beginner along this stretch of coast, and two, because you do not deserve to be rewarded for your poor behaviour yesterday," Eeth yelled against the sound of the wind and splashing waves.

Eden wore his best fart face at hearing those reasons, but that was the extent of his retaliation. Besides, it was hard to talk, and any well-constructed arguments about how he'd already been punished would lose weight if only half of it were heard! He sat there for another hour or so without a word; then the seas started seriously picking up. Water was spraying up in sheets from the bow and subsequently slowly filling their boat. Eeth ordered him to get the bilge pump which was stowed under a seat. He didn't have a clue what he was doing, but with instructions, he managed to operate the pump and keep them from sinking while Eeth steered them on.

The sea was decidedly choppier than it had been yesterday. Eeth decided that he needed to move the boat further inland, despite the rocks; he would just have to rely on his sense of the Force to avoid them. At least, there was no non-Jedi here to witness this today.

"Brace yourself," he told Eden and made an about-turn. He headed for the shore, keeping the boat at a sharp angle to the waves in order to take on as little water as possible, closed his eyes and entered a light meditative trance, steering on what his instincts told him. The boat swerved and curved, tilting from side to side; but the rocks offered protection from waves and they stopped catching water.

Finally, towards the late afternoon, they reached a bay that Eeth remembered having passed yesterday in the early afternoon. If they landed here, they would be sure to manage the remainder of the trip comfortably tomorrow. Eeth steered into the bay and looked for a place to land. He told Eden: "Pump out the remaining water, please. I'll find us a place to spend the night."

"Aye aye, captain," the boy replied, offering a mock salute. By now, he kind of knew Eeth lacked a sense of humour, and if he did have one, well, it was very different from his own.

It took Eeth a while until he found a good place to land because the water was so rough and he needed some kind of shelter for the boat. Finally, he found a small alcove surrounded by reeds. He drove the boat as far into the reeds as he could, jumped out and hacked his way through them, creating a path to the beach. Then he returned to the boat. Eden, he could see, was nearing the point of exhaustion, but he was doggedly continuing the work he had been told to do.

"You may get out," Eeth told him, taking over the pump. "I will finish up here. If you like, take the blankets and the food and find us a good place to spend the night. There should be enough firewood at the edge of the beach to heat some of our food and make tea. I will be with you as soon as I have emptied the bilge."

"Thank you." It was heartfelt, too. The boy's arms were burning, and he was sore, itchy and uncomfortable from all the salt water. It had somehow crusted on the inside of his tunic and was sticking to the tiny hairs on his back, making him feel all icky. He jumped out of the boat, using the Force to well and truly clear the small waves lapping at the shoreline. It was still an hour or so until dark, so Eden removed his lightsaber, clipped it to his belt, shouldered his pack and took off into the tree line.

Twenty-five minutes later he had found an oasis, of sorts. Well, it was hotter than the surface of Mustafar, but the water was fresh and, according to the scanner he had taken from Eeth's pack before leaving the boat, drinkable. He was not sure about the heat, though. It seemed to be coming from the ground rather than the sun. Still, it provided what they needed so he ran back to the boat, eager to convey what he had found.

Eeth had finished by that time and tied up the boat securely. He gathered the remains of their luggage and equipment and started to make his way towards where Eden had gone when the boy came running back to him.

Just like Eden, he noticed the unusual heat immediately. These islands were on the planet's equator, meaning that the temperature did not generally vary much. Frowning, he reached out with the Force and discovered a high amount of volcanic activity. There did not seem to be any immediate danger, though. "We could take a bath here," he proposed, "and then take some drinking water back to the beach. The sun will set soon, and it will be cooler and more comfortable there. What do you think?"

"I think that's the best idea you've come up with since we last ate," the boy agreed, a huge smile on his face as he pulled the water canister from his pack and clipped it to his belt.

It was not exactly comfortable. It was muggy. The canopy of trees seemed to hold in the heat and walking with a water bottle, with his lightsaber clanging against his legs, was annoying. He endured. "We might not even need a shelter; it doesn't look like there is rain around and, the beach seems free from predators, and it's freaking hot enough. Oh, did I tell you about goar sharks? Well..." He started to explain what Elis had told him as they filled their canteens.

Eeth nodded. "That should not be a concern to us on the beach," he said as he pulled off his shirt. They were both covered in crusts of dried salt and needed to wash it off. The water in the small lake was warm and a little muddy, but it was better than nothing.

"Let us take a path through these rocks," Eeth said, pointing at a hill to their right as they made to return to the beach a little later, laden with water-filled canteens. "It looks as if there might be a source of fresh water, which might be better than the one from the lake. If not, we will have to make do with what we've got."

Eden shrugged. He did not particularly mind exploring, although it was really, really hot here. He followed Eeth through the growth and noticed there were some worn paths, possibly made by animals making a regular visit to a particular spot.

Eeth started gathering firewood while they climbed across the rocky hillside. It was cooler than the oasis, and it held several sandy dips. Eeth's scanner also showed water in the vicinity; and indeed, a small trickle of sweet water came down one of the rocks. Eeth tested it, and when the test showed that it was drinkable, tasted it. "A little metallic, but cooler and less muddy than the water from the oasis," he said. "I will leave it up to you which one you prefer to drink. It might take a while to fill a flask from this source." He looked around himself. The sun was just setting, and darkness would soon settle over the rocks. They were in one of the sandy dips between the rocks, with a view of the beach and their boat. "I think," he said, "we should simply stay here for the night and go down to the beach tomorrow morning. This place is safe from the rising tide, and we will have running water at our disposal." Besides, being from a desert species, deep down he felt that he had had enough of the sea for one day, but Eden did not need to know that.

The water Eeth had found was indeed clearer than that which they had in their canteens, and Eden didn't mind the taste. He stood by the trickle for about five minutes taking a long drink. Then he turned to admire the view. It was indeed a wonderful sight. The sun was setting on the horizon, casting an orange and purplish glow on the ocean. Their boat was bobbing around gently by the bunch of reeds Eeth had tethered it to, but it wasn't in danger of floating away. "I haven't seen anything like that before," the kid remarked, pausing for longer than most eleven-year-olds. Having been raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, he had seen such things only on holos. He sat next to Eeth, watching as the man started to stack the firewood in a tipi style, pitching each stick against the other. "Can I do something?" He was tired but didn't want to leave everything to Eeth.

Eeth gave him a brief smile, pleased with the boy's willingness to help despite his obvious fatigue. "You could unpack our food and help me prepare some dinner," he said.

Eden did his best to put something edible together. Personally, he didn't care as he'd have eaten anything.

A little while later, they were eating an assortment of the things Eden had purchased, with some left for breakfast next morning, and drinking tea. Eeth waited patiently until Eden had finished, then leaned back against a rock and said: "Now tell me, padawan Eden. What made you think that it might be acceptable to take the boat and drive it while I was away?"

"Please, do we have to go over this again? You already beat my ass with a paddle and refused to allow me any fun. What more do you want from me? I said I was sorry already." Eden got to a kneeling position, hoping that his show of contrition and tired out expression would convince Eeth to just let this one go.

Eeth raised his eyebrows.

"You were disobedient, irresponsible, you used a very expensive borrowed boat of which I had been put in charge, behind my back, and you think a dozen swats with the paddle are sufficient response to this?" he asked. "Is that what your master would think as well?"

Much to Eden's consternation, Eeth was not buying his efforts, so he sat back on his heels and huffed. Did he think Eeth's response sufficient? Well, yeah; the paddling had hurt him, after all. Besides, he was still in the bad books as Eeth had not let him drive the boat either. Unfortunately, Eden knew that his own master would have probably done a lot worse and so he was forced to acquiesce at Eeth's second question. "No, Sir. However, it was enough for Elis, and he's years older than I am." Of course, Eden had a feeling how this response was going to be answered. His master had often told him that the Jedi were held to higher standards and why that was. Eeth was new, though, so Eden thought it worth a shot. Deserved or not, he did not want his ass handed to him again. It was to be avoided at all costs which was what made it an effective deterrent for most apprentices. Apparently, he hadn't been thinking along those lines when he made the decision to take the boat with Elis.

"Elis," Eeth said sternly, "is not in my charge. You are. My only concern with Elis was to get him to behave until our arrival. With you, it is different. You are raised to become a Jedi Knight, and you will need to learn that disobedience, impulsive behaviour and recklessness are unacceptable. Even at eleven years of age, you are expected to show more of a sense of responsibility than you did yesterday. I would have much preferred to deal with it there and then, but I thought you might appreciate it if you did not have Elis around for an audience. Or shall I dispense with such niceties in the future, if there is a future occasion on which this matters?"

Eden had expected that response. He had not expected to hear Eeth would have truly gone to town on him had Elis not been there. How he would have sat in the boat after that, he did not know. He assumed that, like his master never tired of reminding him, he would be expected to endure far worse things in his chosen career than a sore ass. "No. It was embarrassing enough as it was," he replied after a lengthy pause. He wasn't eager to reach the business end of this conversation, so he added: "The truth is, had I been alone, I wouldn't have even thought to do it. I was hoping you wouldn't catch us; then there would have been no harm done." Eden looked down again. Suddenly the fabric of his trousers was fascinating. He knew that last statement was not entirely true because the guilt of disobeying would have bothered him.

"Except for the fact that you had no way of knowing whether Elis knew what he was doing with that boat," Eeth snapped. "And had something gone wrong with the boat, we would have had a number of problems. Serious problems. We are trying to get our ship back to working order, padawan Eden. This is no child's play." He pushed himself up to sit on a rock. "Bare your bottom and come here," he ordered.

Eden tracked Eeth's movements, then swallowed as the knight settled himself on the rock. No, their mission was not child's play, but, Jedi apprentice or not, Eden was still a child, and sometimes he struggled with his control. Now was one such time. The boy let out a frustrated grunt and punched at the ground with his fist. He sat there for a moment, brooding, his arms folded tightly about his chest. Then, realising that he probably wasn't doing himself any favours, he grudgingly stood and dragged his feet to the man's side. He did not want to put his ass anywhere near Eeth, but it didn't look like the man was giving him an option because the moment he had his bottom bared, Eeth pulled him down and over his lap.

Eeth pulled out his paddle and started swatting his bottom with it. Since Eden was human and this was only the prelude, he restrained himself, making the swats relatively light; but there were a lot of them. He wanted this experience to sink in.

"Ow, OW owww! Ah!" The boy hissed each objection through gritted teeth. It stung. He was now certain that this paddle was carved from a firethorn tree; it was just horrible. His muscles tensed, his face scrunched up and eventually, he started kicking his feet on the ground.

Unperturbed by Eden's struggles, Eeth continued to spank. And spank. And spank. This had been serious misbehaviour, and he wanted Eden to realise that, as fully and completely as he possibly could. Therefore, he had no intention of leaving Eden's dignity intact.

That Eeth was still nailing him with that paddle after what felt like an hour made the level of his displeasure crystal clear to Eden; it hurt! He tried to keep from struggling, really he did, but it hurt so much there wasn't anything he could do to stop himself. He kicked frantically, arched his back and tried to twist his way free. When none of that worked he resorted to his last remaining option, begging! "Please, OwwAH! I'm sorreee! plee-OWahh-lease! Oww!" he begged. When nothing seemed to work, he dropped his head and cried.

It was at this point that Eeth finally dropped the paddle. But only to open his belt with his right while his left was still holding Eden securely across his lap. This was a punishment for a serious offence, after all, and he wanted no doubts left about that fact.

When Eeth finally stopped, Eden had broken out in a sweat from both the pain and his efforts to struggle out of Eeth's grip. It had been exhausting, and he knew it was not nearly over yet. He lay limply, his tears stinging his eyes and running into his mouth. The boy spat it to the ground, twisting his neck so he could wipe his nose on his shirt sleeve. He did not move when Eeth went for his belt; he knew he had that coming. He wanted badly to draw on the Force to help him block out the next few minutes but, and like all Jedi apprentices, he knew to do so would probably earn him more. "I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry," he tried. It was heartfelt, too, as there was nothing like the threat of a belting to bring out remorse, regret and genuine contrition.

Not deigning to respond, Eeth folded the belt over and brought it down onto Eden's bottom at moderate force; but then, his belt was thick, wide and heavy and did not need to be wielded with much force in order to leave an impression, especially not on an already thoroughly paddled bottom. Tightening his grip around Eden's waist, he systematically laid down twelve stripes, one right below the other. He was aware that the boy was in considerable pain, but that, in his opinion, was rather the point and entirely Eden's own fault.

The sounds that emanated from the kid were deafening and would have surely scared off the wildlife within a kilometre radius. He kicked and struggled, doing his best to escape the next swat but they just kept coming. By the time Eeth meted out the tenth, all the fight had left him, and he lay limp and howled. At this point, Eden was sure that he had never caught it this badly before, just as he was certain that he was never going to disobey another order as long as he lived.

Unperturbed by Eden's reactions, Eeth completed the dozen. It simply felt right to him to do so. When that was done, he dropped the belt on top of the paddle. He was not entirely sure how to proceed from here, though. When his master had punished him, he had always withdrawn to his room for a while to regain his composure before he had approached her again. That was not possible here, and Eeth was not sure whether this was what Eden wanted either. He rested his hand on the boy's back and waited for some sign of what he might expect from him.

Having his ass whaled off in the middle of nowhere had not been among Eden's finest of moments; he was decidedly unhappy and feeling rather sorry for himself. He lay there for a while, unable to do much more than cry. When he started to regain his composure, he registered the hand on his back. Jay always comforted him after punishment, but so far, Eeth had not given him the impression that he was willing to do that. So it was that the boy pushed himself up, knelt gingerly on his heels and met the man with tear filled eyes. "I-I'm s-sorry," he managed to stutter out while dragging a sleeve under his nose.

True to his resolution, the last time he had punished Eden, Eeth had remembered to pocket a couple of handkerchiefs; he produced one and handed it to the boy. "I accept your apology," he said a little stiffly, but sincerely, and briefly rested a hand on Eden's shoulder. "And I trust there will be no more such pointless disobedience during this mission." Truth be told, Eeth had a hard time understanding what drove youngsters to display such behaviour. It was not that he himself had never disobeyed his master; but he had never done so just in order to have fun or to do something that seemed as if it would be more enjoyable than what he had been told to do. In theory, from his experience with other Jedi children and adolescents, he understood what had motivated Eden, but he still found it difficult to grasp.

The handkerchief was a surprise, and Eden accepted it gratefully. His face was a train wreck, covered in snot and tears. And as if that was not bad enough, sand was sticking to it all and making a bigger mess. The kid cleaned himself up, one hand rubbing lightly at his backside as he did so. The skin was hot to the touch, and he could feel a number of welts, some that were still raising and some that were worse than others. The ones that had nailed his under curve felt the worst. He traced the outline of one and started sniffling again, his head down. What was his master going to say about all of this? Jay would be disappointed that he'd put his want for fun before his duty; this caused another sniffle. Eden missed his master now more than ever. Not thinking about anything more than his own needs, he moved forward on his knees and wrapped his arms around Eeth, burying his head into his chest; he wanted the comfort.

Eeth was rather horrified to suddenly find a teenager hugging him. He was not so much worried about the snot and tears; his clothes had seen worse on many occasions. It was more the emotional need that he saw in the boy and sensed from him that overwhelmed him. He was not sure he was equipped to deal with it. On the other hand, he was never one to shirk his duty, and his master had taught him to recognise duties of this type when they stared him in the face.

Eeth tentatively rested a hand on Eden's back and patted it a little awkwardly. "You are forgiven," he said, as gently as he could. "I will provide some healing a little later. And I am sure we will be on our way back to Coruscant soon."

Given that Eeth was not telegraphing his discomfort, and was well able to maintain his personal shields, Eden did not detect his unease. He did, however, pick up on the slightly awkward way in which his hand rested on his back. It was a little robotic. Well, it wasn't the comfort Jay would have offered, but then again, Eeth wasn't Jay. Thus, Eden stayed there for a little while longer until he had managed to compose himself. Then he withdrew to kneel once again. He twisted to assess the state of his backside because if it looked anything like it felt, he was sure there was going to be blood and everything. There wasn't. Eden was almost disappointed. He had expected some horrific battle wounds from such an encounter, but apparently, it was not to be. "Ow," he complained, his eyes squinting for a moment as he rose to his feet. "Can I just go to bed, please?" he asked.

"First, I want you to meditate for half an hour," Eeth said firmly.

"Meditate?" Was he serious? One look at the man's expression said that he was. "But… I don't know if I can," Eden replied honestly. Sure, his mental discipline was high compared to that of his peers, but then again, his ass was also very sore.

"I am sure you can," Eeth said evenly. "I am equally sure that you will not find it easy to accomplish, but that is quite different from not being able to. After that, I will offer sufficient healing to allow you to go to sleep - and to make it through the boat ride tomorrow. If there is no further trouble and the sea is calm enough, I might teach you how to drive the boat." He had not actually planned on announcing this, but somehow, it had slipped out. This slightly annoyed Eeth because he was not usually the type to have information slip out that he had not intended to make public; but on the other hand, it was not as if there was any harm done, he told himself.

"You will?" It was rhetorical, and Eden did not expect an answer. That Eeth was even considering it meant he was back in his good books, or so he assumed. It also meant that he had something to look forward to and that helped the kid to focus on the positives and not the immediately painful negative. He bundled his trousers to protect his knees from the sand and dirt and then knelt to do as he was told. It was hard, very hard, but eventually, he managed to take his mind off the fire raging across his ass and focus on releasing his emotions into the Force. This was something he was not overly proficient at just yet. His master had been focusing on his flaws as opposed to his strengths and it was a struggle. He had not thought to set his watch this time so when Eeth placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing him from his trance, he was grateful.

"Get ready for bed and lie down," Eeth said softly. "I will heal your bottom, and then you can go to sleep."

They did not need to leave excessively early the next morning. Eeth was not exactly planning on sleeping in, but he would not wake Eden at the crack of dawn either. There was more than enough time to reach their destination by nightfall, boat driving lessons included.

Eden nodded at the instructions and took off his shirt, swapping it out for a singlet. Then he grabbed a pair of sleep pants from his pack and pulled them up. Carefully. He had brought a change of clothing which he was grateful for now since his trousers were filthy, as was his shirt. At least he would have clean clothing to change into tomorrow which would go a way to making him feel more comfortable. It did not take him long to roll out the small mat that he had coiled and hanging from the base of his pack. It was just thick enough to be practical and would be far better than sleeping on the ground. Once he was lying down, he dropped his head onto his forearms and waited. He wanted badly to ask why Eeth was such a hard-ass, but instead settled on: "Have you always been this rigid?" The knight had said very little about himself since they had met, which was also something Eden had noticed.

Eeth paused at that, unsure how to respond. That was partly because he was not certain what it was exactly that Eden was getting at. Nothing he had done during this mission struck him as particularly unusual. "What do you mean by 'rigid'?" he asked.

"You know, a hard-ass? So strict and all. If I were your padawan, I'd probably never sit down," Eden elaborated. He was not entirely sure it was such a smart idea to bring this up while the man was healing his ass, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"I am sure you would," Eeth said drily, the idea of having a padawan seeming quite far-fetched to him. "I am currently healing you, after all. Do you think I am excessively strict? Would your master have handled anything differently from what I did, then?" He was really wondering. In his experience, Jedi padawans were generally being held to high standards, and transgressions were not normally tolerated. Had he really been so much stricter than the average Jedi?

"Jay would have done the same," Eden admitted, leaving out the fact that his master never healed a punishment. What Eden was noticing but had yet to put his finger on was the man's lack of humour, affection and his stoic personality which, overall, made him seem 'stiff.' He shrugged and looked over his shoulder. "He is not going to be happy with me if he finds out that I caused problems. What are the chances of keeping that between us?" he hedged.

"None whatsoever," Eeth replied bluntly. "But I will also tell him about the punishments you received at my hand. Does he usually punish you a second time when you have been punished by someone else?" Eeth's master had never done this unless it concerned behaviour she had specifically warned him about, but he had heard that others did. He had always considered it somewhat unfair, especially when the original punishment had already been sufficiently severe.

"No. But that doesn't mean he won't be disappointed and start lecturing. I don't usually get into much trouble, you know. Then again, I haven't exactly been out of my master's sight on a mission before; this is the first time." The boy dropped his head once again and blew out a long sigh. "He has every right to be disappointed in me. I don't know why I disobeyed you. I know my duty, but…" He paused, scrubbing a hand across his face. "It was new and exciting, and I wanted to do those things more." Eden knew how that sounded, but it was the truth.

Eeth finished his ministrations to Eden's bottom and sat back. "In my limited experience," he said, "eleven-year-old boys are bound to make mistakes. You did make some mistakes during this mission, but none of them were unforgivable. And I will also tell your master that you were a real asset to this mission. You have generally been quite helpful and worked hard." This was more praise than Eeth normally felt comfortable handing out, but he found that he really did not feel Eden should be punished any more for his misbehaviour. Eeth had properly taken care of that, after all.

"You mean that?" Eden asked, but the question had been rhetorical and he didn't expect an answer so he continued. "Thanks. This mission is the first time I've been separated from Jay since becoming an apprentice." He smiled a little although Eeth couldn't see it. He missed his master, but rather than admitting as much he decided to ask it of Eeth instead: "Do you miss your master now that you're knighted? It's your first mission alone, after all."

Eeth frowned at the personal question. "It has not occurred to me to miss my master," he replied truthfully. "I have been trained all my life to undertake missions on my own, after all. Besides, we will be back at the Temple shortly where I will probably see her. Unless she has been sent on a mission herself."

As he said that, he realised that the last bit bothered him more than the fact that he himself was alone now. Who was going to look out for Fenya, if not him?

Now it was Eden's turn to frown, but it was more out of surprise than discomfort. "How could it not occur to you?" he asked almost immediately and without thought. Emotions weren't something that occurred to Eden, they just were; Eeth made it sound like the concept of missing his master was a function that could be switched on and off at will.

At this point in his life, Eeth was well aware that he was different from a lot of other beings. He had long ago ceased to take offence over this. But it still annoyed him that others insisted on treating his innate emotional responses as "not normal." "I do not require my master's company for my emotional well-being," he said stiffly, "nor do I take issue with being alone. Besides, I am perfectly able to be fond of her without needing her presence. Nor do I think that this is unusual for an adult. Most beings who live in biological families leave their parents at some point, after all."

Who said anything about needing her presence, thought Eden. To him the concept was too far out of his scope to comprehend. It did get him to thinking, though. Did he need Jay, just miss his company or was it both? He guessed as an adult things would be different and so he said nothing in response; Eeth didn't sound like he was enjoying this particular conversation, in any case.

And indeed, Eeth was less than comfortable with talking about his feelings. He had never been good at it and had tried to avoid it at all cost. His master had been the only one who had sometimes managed to make him confide in her, but even Fenya had needed to bully him into doing so. He had rarely done it of his own accord.

"Let us sleep," he said, wanting to end this conversation before Eden could come up with more questions of a personal nature. Besides, he was tired and that was doubly true for the boy. Tomorrow was going to be another long day.


	9. Chapter 9

That evening, Eden slept like a log despite the lingering sting from his encounter with Eeth's belt. He was clean, warm and well-fed thanks to the comforts they had found in the bay Eeth had chosen for them to rest in for the night.

The next morning, Eden slept until he was woken. He opened his eyes slowly, but unlike the previous day when Elis had been with them, Eden recognised Eeth's Force presence and had his bearings quickly. He stood and stretched, letting out a loud yawn. He could have slept on until lunchtime, but didn't complain; they had a mission to accomplish, and by now it had truly become a mission leaving Antaeus! They ate breakfast. Their campsite between the rocks offered protection from the wind as well as giving them what was, in Eden's opinion, a picturesque view of the rising sun over the ocean and their boat which was bobbing with the shifting tide.

After breakfast, they packed quickly and departed. It took them about two hours before they had left the bay and the rough waters behind themselves and reached the calm sea surrounding the southernmost part of the island. Here, Eeth finally showed Eden how to pilot the boat and navigate the currents. After a short lunch break that they spent on a minuscule island that was little more than a rock in the sea, Eeth allowed Eden to take the wheel until their destination came into view.

"We need to switch now," Eeth called from the back seat he had taken. "Leif might not be pleased if he sees you at the wheel, and besides, docking the boat without damage is the most difficult part."

Eden snorted at that statement; he had not docked the boat so far but knew firsthand how difficult it was to get the dang boat landed! He cringed a bit at that memory. Why he had not thought to cover up the point from Ellis' landing was beyond him. Was he completely retarded? Apparently, under pressure, his brain switched off. Well, that was something he needed to work on, given that he was training to be a Jedi Knight. Of course he knew his master would likely reply to that line of thought with something about being eleven years old and that expecting to behave like he was a Jedi knight already was arrogant.

He switched seats with Eeth, watching intently as the man docked their boat without taking out their side. In Eden's opinion that trip had been far, FAR less arduous than the last one. Firstly, his ass wasn't killing him, and secondly Eeth actually let him drive which made him feel like he was doing more than just sitting there watching; he hated that. It had also been fun, but that part he would leave out as missions weren't about his entertainment, or so he'd been told.

While Eeth was busy making sure the boat was secured to the docking pole, Eden jumped out to wait. The boating had been fun, but he was glad to be back on the solid ground of B'tik. They still had to find a way to make their return journey to the Island of Auwago where their spaceship waited in the port city of Mauwag. As he followed Eeth to find Leif, Eden wondered if they would have to wait here for a long-haul boat to come by or if they would find another way.

They had a bit of a hard time hunting down Leif who was busy somewhere in the village and had obviously not expected them back so fast. He was pleased to hear that all had gone well, however, and readily offered to host them overnight and take them back to Auwago in his speedboat tomorrow in exchange for a small fee.

"I need to buy and sell some stuff anyway," he said vaguely. Eeth got the distinct impression that he was not talking about strictly legal stuff here, but since it did not concern him, he refrained from inquiring.

Leif's children were extremely curious about the two of them, and during dinner, they showered them with questions about Coruscant. Eeth left most of the talking to Eden.

As he had done with Sage and Taram, Eden answered their questions, and then he asked a few of his own. He did not mind keeping them entertained; they were nice people. Age-wise, their three children were spread out, the oldest being about Ellis' age; the youngest looked to be around four. The meal was delicious. There was very little that the kid would not eat, anyway. Leif's youngest, however, was decidedly more picky but after being scolded to eat up, she did so quickly; this Leif guy was not someone any of his children were eager to disobey.

When their food was eaten, Eden looked to Eeth. The boy knew that it was polite to offer their help with any chores, but he was not sure what Eeth had planned for them, and so he remained quiet.

Eeth offered their help with the washing-up. After that, Leif and his wife were busy getting the children to bed. It seemed as if everybody turned in early around here, and since they were going to leave at first light tomorrow, Eeth thought that would be a sensible course of action for the two of them as well. Before they went to sleep, though, he took the time to meditate with Eden. It seemed as if the boy enjoyed it, and anyway, Eeth was a firm believer in the benefits of regular guided meditations.

* * *

It was late afternoon the next day when the port of Mauwag came into sight. From the speedboat, Eeth could even make out their spaceship a little to the east of the town. With any luck, he could finish the repairs tonight and maybe even take them into hyperspace before he went asleep.

The trip to Auwago had been boring, horribly boring to Eden! The boy had sat quietly, unable to ask to pilot the boat for obvious reasons, and done his best to amuse himself by playing a game. It was a game that his master had taught him and was designed to help him detect tiny fluctuations in the Force that might signify danger. Eeth would have sensed what he was doing, but Leif would not.

Finally, they arrived! After thanking Leif for his help, paid-for though it was, they went about finding a method to transport the cryonic acid to their ship. "You know, he was a pretty decent driver for a non-Force sensitive being," the boy remarked sometime later as they loaded their cargo into a small hovercraft that Eeth had managed to obtain.

"Of course," Eeth replied. "He has most likely been piloting boats all his life. Never underestimate non-Jedi. Force awareness is a good thing, but it does not magically provide you with agility, muscle power or experience."

Eden refrained from uttering a 'you don't say' response to that statement, if only because he knew by now that Eeth did not have much of a sense of humour.

They made for their starship where Eeth told Eden to bring their luggage to their cabins and go into town to buy something to eat. He himself started working on the tank right away. There were some repairs on the circuits left to do, but Eeth thought that these would be relatively straightforward.

Eden did as bade, taking their packs to their respective cabins and piling their dirty clothing into the onboard cleaner. Hopefully Eeth would restore their power tomorrow and they'd have another clean set of clothing. After that was organised, he left to find them some dinner. It would be dark soon, so the boy did not dawdle.

He had just finished ordering some food when a familiar laugh caught his attention. "Sage, Taram, how are you?" he asked as they approached, each with a towel in their hands and shouldering a pack.

"Eden! Great! We're about to head home for a pre-dinner snack, you wanna c…" Sage cut herself off, not sure if inviting him would be such a good idea.

"You want to come?" Taram continued, thinking it the polite thing to do regardless.

Eden smiled at Sage, immediately picking up on the girl's discomfort. "I can't, but thanks. Eeth has started work on our ship, and he probably will want me to help." Of course, Eeth would not want his help, but he could hardly say he was going to spend the day working on his lessons when he was supposed to be on school vacation.

"Ohh! You got the cryonic acid! That's awesome! So you'll be able to get back home soon. You'll be glad of that," Sage said a little sadly. She liked Eden, and it was nice having an off-worlder around to ask questions about the galaxy.

"I like it well enough here," he admitted with a shrug. It was at that moment that the cook approached with a large bag containing their food. He handed him the required credits and turned back to his two friends.

"Come see us before you leave, okay?" Taram questioned in a hopeful tone.

"I will. I doubt the ship will be finished by this evening. Have fun, guys. I'm jealous, really, I am." It was true, too. Eden would love nothing more than to go spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with his friends. Well, he had his duty. Thus, they said their goodbyes and Eden returned to their ship.

"Food's here," he announced as he came within hearing range of their ship. He could not see Eeth but knew the man would sense his presence.

It was nearly evening by this time, close to sunset. Eeth was planning on continuing the repairs after dinner. Eden had not been entirely correct in his assumption that Eeth was going to make him do schoolwork, however. That had been his initial thought, but then he had remembered that Eden had had no proper workout and had mostly sat in a boat for the past three days. Besides the fact that this was not conducive to maintaining his physical condition, it was also not an ideal situation for a young boy.

"After dinner, I want you to go outside and swim, or run, or workout in any other way," Eeth told Eden. "You need it."

Two words immediately leapt to Eden's mind: GOAR SHARKS. They attacked swimmers, he knew. Yes, Ellis had also told him that they did not come into the shallow coastlines, but he wasn't so sure. He was not at all comfortable with the idea, in any case, not that he was going to say as much; Eeth would think him a creche baby if he admitted to being scared. Instead, he simply shrugged in acknowledgement and kept on with his dinner. He did not know what he was going to do. Maybe some kata practice; he was quite good at that, and it required the least effort.

When they had cleared up, Eeth told Eden: "Be back in two hours. And you had better not use your saber, you might be seen."

Eden sighed; workouts weren't his favorite of duties.

He walked for about half an hour until he found a place similar to the boulders. It was a vast number of pools, varied in sizes. The water proved to be safe to drink and they were free from predators. He soaked for a little while and then decided that he had better make an effort. So he found the largest pool and started swimming around in slow circles. Given that this pool was about twenty-five meters in circumference, he was getting some sort of workout, especially as he kept at that for at least an hour. His arms were a bit sore when he emerged, and his body resembled a prune. He dressed quickly and made the half-hour walk back to the ship. When he arrived back, it was dark, but Eeth was still working. Eden had dried on the return trip, so he didn't bother to shower. Instead, he threw his pack on the table, yawned and found a comfy spot to sit.

Eeth was becoming quite obsessed with finishing up his task, but he forced himself to take a break and look after Eden. Satisfied with the fact that the boy had taken a walk and a swim (and fully aware that it was probably nowhere near as vigorous as it would have been if Eeth had been there), he meditated with Eden and sent him off to bed.

He continued working on the cables with grim determination. Around midnight, he thought he was finished. However, when he tried to switch on the main power, nothing happened. Pursing his lips, he rose, strode towards the cable shaft with a scowl on his face, and stopped. It occurred to him to wonder what his master would have said about his obsessive behaviour. She would not have been impressed with it, nor with his lack of patience, and she certainly would not have allowed him to miss out on a night's sleep in order to continue the repairs when no acute threat was present. And there was no such threat, really; Eeth's Force awareness told him as much.

With an internal sigh, he resigned himself to having to spend at least another morning in this place and turned in.

* * *

When Eden woke the following morning, he sensed that Eeth was already awake although he wasn't sure what the man was doing. He scrubbed at his eyes, squinted and tried to focus, but as usual, his sense of the Force kicked in well before his shotty eyesight. It took him no time at all to dress and get ready for the day. Hopefully they would be leaving, and that was both good and bad news: good because he wanted to get home and be reunited with his master and because he craved some normalcy; bad because he had made friends here. He made his way to the galley.

Eeth had got up at five thirty, meditated for a short while, got dressed and continued the repairs. Having had some sleep, he found the fault easily. One cable connection below the outer hull had been severed. He had mended it and was just screwing the hatch to that particular cable shaft shut when he sensed Eden move.

"Good morning!" he called. "Pull your boots on and find some bags, please. I will just test whether the power is back; then we will buy some food and leave."

Their remaining credits were enough to buy them fresh food for the return trip which was going to take five days. Five days with nothing but spaceship food could be quite trying. Besides, they needed some breakfast.

"Yes, Sir," Eden replied sleepily and yawned. It was unusual for Eden to be so formal with a Jedi who wasn't his master, but it just felt right to be so with Eeth.

Eeth operated the switch that started the ship's power supply. To his relief, this time around, the air circulation system immediately started humming. The light was back to its normal glow as opposed to the dim emergency lighting that had surrounded them since last night. So, all systems seemed to be in working order. This meant, among other things, that the cooling was starting to work (it had been getting quite hot since sunrise) and that they were going to be able to take a shower. For now, though, they had one last trip into town to make.

A few minutes later, Eden emerged into what passed as their common room, two packs in hand. He slung one over his shoulder and handed the larger to Eeth. "You fixed it! Good job," Eden praised him.

"Thank you," Eeth said. "We will still have to see about the engines. We will only know if they work when we take off. But I do not think they were damaged; the problem was with the power supply."

He slung a backpack over his shoulder and said: "We will have breakfast at the harbour front and buy some fruit, vegetables and bread for the five-day-trip. Your master stocked the ship up on preserved food well enough, but it will be good not to have to rely on that exclusively."

"I'd like to meet up with Sage and Taram," Eden said, shouldering his pack and exiting the hatch behind Eeth. "Please?" was added on as a formality. He had gotten to know Eeth well enough and knew that expecting such privileges was not something he associated with the knight.

"Alright," Eeth said, "if you are willing to buy some take-away food for breakfast. I will do the shopping in the meanwhile, but I need you to meet me in 90 minutes and help me carry the purchases to the ship. After that, we will take off immediately."

"Sure," Eden replied easily. By now, he had a pretty good idea of the foods available here and he also knew where he was likely to find Sage and Taram at this time of day. He hoped they were up as it was still quite early.

The harbour was not as busy as it was around midday. Still, most of the shops had set up at first light to cater for those going out to fish for the day, and there were people walking around. Eden ordered some takeaway breakfast, a grain porridge with nuts and some freshly cut fruits, and then he made his way into the centre. He did not find Sage or Taram, however. He looked around until he ran out of time, but had yet to find either of his friends. He wrote a note on a napkin and gave it to the woman who sold the colourful shirts that hung on hangers from her shop ceiling. "Thanks. Tell them I'm sorry that I missed them, but we had to start early," Eden explained to an understanding shopkeeper and handed her the note. "Could you make sure they get this?" he asked. After receiving an affirmative, he left to find Eeth.

"I didn't find them. Can't exactly expect them just to pop up when I need them to, I guess," he told Eeth dejectedly upon his return.

"They might have been at the camp," Eeth pointed out. "They are not likely to walk around the harbor every day. I am afraid we really have to leave." After all, his mission mandate said to get the boy away from Antaeus as fast as possible, and he took his mission mandates very seriously!

"I know," Eden replied. And he really did understand; this was not a pleasure cruise, and their orders were to return to Coruscant.

Once aboard, Eeth asked Eden to stow their purchases away while he went to the cockpit to start the engines. To his relief, everything seemed to be in working order, and they soon took off into the atmosphere. Entry into hyperspace was smooth. And that was that.

* * *

"This leaves us with five days of spaceship travel," Eeth said to Eden upon entering the galley. "A lot of time to catch up on school work and workouts. Which part do you want to start with?"

"Five days of school work and workouts, where do I sign up?" the boy said in a deadpan tone, shutting the cupboard a little more firmly than necessary and latching it closed. He turned to face Eeth, his expression unenthused. "We just entered hyperspace. Might we avoid work for, oh I dunno, a few hours?" Eden did not know why they had to throw themselves into working immediately, nor did he understand why they couldn't just play a game or read a book, watch a holo – anything but work.

Eeth, on the other hand, saw no reason why five days of hyperspace travel should not be put to good use. This was not a vacation, after all, and Eden's training was important. "No, we might not," he said firmly. "You may have some time off when your work is done, not before. Now, since you do not seem to have a preference, fetch your school work. I will have a look at where you are and what you need to do today. You can work on that for two hours, and then we will have a sparring session."

Which was what they did.

Eden was decidedly unimpressed with being focused on like this by someone who wasn't his master, but couldn't put his finger on why that bothered him. It wasn't like he didn't expect this treatment from any superior.

The first day went by slowly, and the second dragged out in a similar fashion. Still, the boy did as was expected of him. However, by the time it came to sparring practice on their third day, the trip was beginning to wear on him. He lifted his blade into a ready position for what felt like the hundredth time that session, only to have it knocked out of his hand again barely a minute later. "Arghh!" he hissed, giving the wall a good taste of his boot as he turned to summon his weapon.

"Pull yourself together," Eeth said sternly. "Focus. You are not paying attention to what you are doing."

He was positive that the move he was trying to teach was not beyond what Eden was capable of achieving, and he had no tolerance for the boy's lack of patience, bored though he might be. Eeth had quite a bit of experience at teaching lightsaber combat, and he was becoming known as a demanding teacher, but also as a fair one who took care not to ask more of his students than they could manage. What he consistently expected, however, was a maximum effort. He thought he was being quite lenient, in actual fact; after all, Eden had been allowed several hours off every day of their trip so far, which was several hours more than Eeth himself would have wanted at that age.

"I AM pulled together, and I AM focusing!" Eden snapped, snatching his saber and swiping at his forehead with his sleeve. This wasn't more than he could handle, but it was frustrating, and he was finding it a challenge to keep his temper in check.

Eeth glared at him. "You are neither," he stated. "Disignite your saber and meditate for fifteen minutes. When you are done, we will try this again." He was not impressed with Eden's fit of temper but assumed that there was little point in addressing this as long as the boy's emotions were not under control.

Eden huffed. "I am both!" But he disignited his saber and dropped to his knees in any case. He was frustrated to all get out. That said he knew better than to ignore an order like that. The boy did his best to rid himself of his frustrations and was successful for the most part. So it was that when Eeth called for his attention again, he rose without complaint.

"Thank you, padawan Eden," Eeth said calmly. "Now focus on your balance. I know you can do this; your proficiency at meditation is more than sufficient."

"More than sufficient?" Eden said in the same huffy tone he had used earlier.

"Yes, that it was I said," said Eeth coolly. He ignited his saber and launched into the same attack sequence that he was teaching Eden to defend himself against.

"Why can't you just say it's good?" Eden started to complain, but was forced to defend himself before he could finish.

Given that Eeth had made him meditate, Eden was better able to fend off the attack when it came and parried it with ease as he threw himself into the defence. He also did his best to implement the moves against Ataru that Eeth had begun teaching him earlier in the week, with mixed success. He was not great at this, but he managed to pull off the basics.

Eeth was not looking for greatness, he was merely expecting an honest effort. That, he received now - mostly. It was enough to keep him from uttering further reprimands, anyway. "Alright," he finally said. "We will work more on this tomorrow. For now, take a shower. You need to finish your biology lesson. After that, you may have the rest of the afternoon to yourself."

Eden's shoulders slumped. He was tired of the monotony, and his patience for this part of their trip was wearing a little thin. He was bored! Nevertheless, he slunk off to take a shower and find his work because by now he knew that Eeth would not only expect him to do what he was told, but he would check his progress, too. When Eeth approached him a few hours later, he handed over his pad without being asked; he had gotten an acceptable amount of work done in that time, after all.

Eeth conscientiously checked Eden's work and nodded. "Alright," he said. "You may have some time to yourself. I will call you…"

At this moment, the comm unit signaled an incoming message. It was a text message, notifying Eeth that Master Jayside-Wex had had to terminate the negotiations unsuccessfully and was about to leave Antaeus. Since his ship was no faster than Eeth's, that meant that Eden would have to spend about three days at the Temple without his master. Having read the message, Eeth passed it on to Eden.

"Jay will be bummed that their efforts failed," said Eden. "And my grandmaster is still away. At least he was when I left Antaeus. Anyway, it's not like three days is an extraordinary long time. Besides, I am eleven now and don't need babysitting. They'll let me stay in our quarters alone," he said although his tone was not entirely confident.

"No, they will most definitely not," Eeth said decisively. "Even senior padawans are normally assigned someone who will look after their training when they have to spend time at the Temple without their master for some reason. Junior padawans are always assigned a guardian they stay with, or who stays with them. Grandmasters and padawan siblings are the most common choice; failing that, the Council will make a decision based on their assessment of the needs of the padawan in question."

Eden's chin came up defiantly. "I can handle my own training, thank you very much," he said.

"No, you cannot." said Eeth sternly. "And I am rather certain that my statement is entirely in line with the Council's position on this matter. Do you have padawan siblings?"

"Anthia. But if you mean for her to take over babysitting duty, I'm not sure if she's even back at the Temple." Eden was not happy with Eeth's response, and it showed on his face. "For the record, I'm eleven, not four, and certainly don't need babysitting in the Temple. I grew up there, for Force's sake. What do they think I'm going to do, anyway? Hijack a speeder and go clubbing?" His expression was incredulous; he was working himself into a mood over this.

"Padawans a little older than you have been known to do that," Eeth said, giving Eden a withering look. "More to the point, though, the Council probably think you might slack off with regard to either your school work or your training or both. In any case, this is the Council's decision, not mine, so if you feel you need to vent your frustration at anyone, vent it at them. I do not recommend it, though."

The boy was about to retort, yet the look on Eeth's face had him reconsider doing so. Eden didn't like what the man had said because it was true; he probably would slack off a bit. But that would be fun for a few days and not at all detrimental to his training! His expression shifted from a frown to one of resignation. "Fine," he replied, entirely unwilling to further antagonise Eeth. Besides, if he couldn't win this argument now, he might just bring it up with the Council. Surely they would see his point of view...


	10. Chapter 10

The five days spent in hyperspace from Antaeus were horribly boring for Eden, but he managed to keep from further pissing off Eeth; something of a feat, he thought to himself, given the crap he'd landed himself in since meeting the Knight. The issue of who Eden was going to stay with once they were back was not brought up for the time being. Eeth hoped that the boy's padawan sibling might be available; that would be an ideal solution. However, when Eeth and Eden exited hyperspace on the fifth and final day of their return trip to Coruscant, they were informed that Anthia, said padawan sibling, had returned to the Temple and then left again while Eden and Jay were still on Antaeus. That ruled her out as a prospective caretaker.

"I really don't want to go back to the crèche," Eden grumbled as Eeth piloted them through Coruscant's heavy noon traffic. The boy was fed up with spaceship travel, tired of school work, but most of all, he felt he was too old to require supervision whilst at the Temple.

"Unlikely," Eeth commented a little absently while manually steering the ship towards the Temple's landing pad. "They will find someone to look after you exclusively."

* * *

That someone turned out to be him. Eeth was to move into Master Jayside-Wex's quarters since his own were too small to accommodate a padawan. He truly and honestly had not expected that. It was not that he minded looking after Eden; the boy's behaviour and level of skill were acceptable for an eleven-year-old padawan, and even if they were not, he could deal with it. He just had thought that his babysitting days were over now that he was knighted, and he had rather hoped for a mission that would allow him to exploit his full potential for once. Yet, it seemed as if that was not to be, or at least not for the next three days. Arguing would be futile, and therefore, Eeth merely bowed silently before Master Aaraan and the clerk on duty who had just told the two of them of the Council's decision.

"If that is all?" he asked Master Aaraan. "Come, Padawan Eden."

"Wait," Eden, who had held his tongue until this point, spoke up, ignoring Eeth's order for the moment. "I have lived at the Temple since I was a baby. I don't need a sitter! It's only three days," he said, trying and failing to keep the hope from his tone. Eeth had said earlier that he needed supervision to keep him from slacking off, among other things. Eden hoped the Council would think him too old for such temptations.

Eeth was rather surprised at Eden's cheek and, if he was really honest with himself, a little hurt as well. Had he not taken good care of Eden? He had certainly never complained about this mission, even though it had not been the demanding task that he had hoped for, now that he was knighted. Then he looked at the expression on Eden's face and realised that this was not about him; it was most likely about the boy's pride. Eeth could relate to that. But pride definitely had no place in a Jedi's life.

"That will be enough of your backtalk, padawan Eden," he said firmly. "There is no need to argue the Council's decision."

"Indeed," said Master Aaraan drily, leaning back in his chair.

Backtalk? It wasn't backtalk, it was a request, or at the very worst, a statement! Eden looked from the clerk with whom his gaze had rested last, to Eeth and then back to Master Aaraan. He swallowed, nodded at Eeth's reprimand, bowed to the two Councilors and left with Eeth. Well, that hadn't gone over as he expected. Sure, he was no coward, but taking on three Jedi superiors was a battle he was destined to lose.

He strode beside Eeth, doing his best to hide his brooding but his clipped gait would have telegraphed his displeasure to just about anybody. Eeth being a Jedi knight would have picked it up a mile away. Of course, this had nothing to do with Eeth personally; it was all about the fact that he had spent his entire life at this Temple. He also did not like the fact that Eeth had predicted this outcome. It was rubbing salt into the wound.

"Stop sulking," Eeth told the boy firmly. "We have been through this. The Council would leave no eleven-year-old padawan to his own devices. This is not a rule they created for you, specifically, nor will they relax it for you, specifically."

"I know," came the curt reply. "That doesn't make it any easier to accept. They're treating me like a child. I'm well able to conduct missions so I should be trusted. I find it insulting. Wouldn't you?" Eden looked up at Eeth as they walked, his ire ebbing slightly at the hopes that Eeth would agree with him.

Eeth thought about this. "I might have, at your age," he finally conceded honestly. "But I know now that the Council are right. They want you to continue with your routine. Even if you are perfectly able to go to class on your own, you will still need someone to meditate and work out with you. And to reduce the temptation of getting into mischief."

Okay, so Eden had to admit that having Eeth around to meditate with was something he didn't want to lose. The workouts? Those he could do without. He snorted, but the edge of his lip curled into a smile as they walked. He couldn't argue with any of that, after all, and he had grown fond of the man's presence.

A few minutes later, Eden palmed the door plate to the quarters he shared with Jay. It was a standard team's quarters, that being, it was modestly furnished with the basics, contained two bedrooms and in this case, a single shared bathroom. There were no windows or outside areas as this room was pretty much smack bang in the middle of the Temple. It was, however, climatically comfortable and the lighting was adequate. Eden tossed his pack on the couch and headed directly for the cupboards. Unsurprisingly, he didn't find much. "If you want to go and pick up your stuff, I can stay here and order some food," he suggested, flinging open the cooler door to find it, too, was pretty much empty.

Eeth glanced at the chrono and considered for a moment. Then he said: "Let us go to the dining hall. It was mid-afternoon on the ship, but here, it is just about lunchtime. It usually is helpful to adapt to the local time as fast as possible. We can buy food on our way back, and I will pick up my things then, too. My quarters are not far from here."

It didn't bother Eden what time it was; he would eat anyway. Shutting the cooler door, he turned to meet Eeth's gaze. "Lead on, Fearless Leader," he quoted, but despite his effort at humour, there was a hint of resignation in his tone.

Eeth frowned slightly. This was probably an allusion to something, but he had no idea to what. Deciding to ignore it, he led the way to the dining hall which was packed at this time of the day. Eeth did not really look around; he rarely actively looked for company. His master, Fenya Jaa, was currently on a fact-finding mission. In the message Eeth had received from her during his trip to Antaeus, she had claimed that it was closer to a vacation than an actual mission. She had also said that she could really use a vacation, now that Eeth had been knighted. Eeth had not quite understood what she meant by that.

"Alec!" Eden shouted upon spotting the Zabrak boy across the hall seated with his Iktochi master, Azimech, and a few other people that he knew. He had not seen his friend since the week before they had left for Antaeus and was eager to share stories of the adventure they had had getting back here.

"Eden!" Alec mouthed, his expression clearly happy to see his friend. However, he was not willing to try shouting over the packed dining hall, at least not while his master sat right next to him. He stood and waved them over.

Eden looked up at Eeth and took hold of his sleeve in case he did not have the man's attention. "Let's get food and go join them?" It had started out as a statement but morphed into a request by the end.

Eeth saw no reason to object. He was aware, after all, at least in theory, that most beings were more sociable than he was and that this was not a bad thing. Eeth served himself to noodle soup, crackers, a salad and a piece of fruit. He kept an eye on Eden's tray, too, pleased that the boy's choices seemed reasonable. Eden had picked a dessert, then hesitated a bit, his hand hovering over a piece of cake. When Eeth shook his head, though, Eden withdrew his hand without complaint.

When they had thus finished loading their trays, they made their way over to Eden's friends. Eeth let Eden pick his seat first, deposited his tray and waited for introductions.

"Knight Koth, this is Master Azimech" – Eden gestured to the middle-aged Iktochi female seated by Alec – "and her apprentice, Alec. Alec and I met during junior crèche but in the last four years we were assigned different crèche masters, and we didn't see much of each other. When I became a padawan we met again in the padawans' lounge," Eden explained.

Once the formalities were over, questions started flying around about the hows and whys of Eden's last mission which the boy answered. He explained what had happened, why Eeth had been sent to collect him and then went into details about how they had such a hard time getting off the planet. Naturally, being an eleven-year-old padawan, he exaggerated the amount of blaster fire, how long the boat ride was and how hard they had worked on Fann's long-haul ship. "But then I met some really great people too, Sage and Taram, then Elis who rode with us on the trip to Taktaw. Jay should be back in three days, although apparently, the council do not trust me to look after myself, so Eeth was asked to watch me until he gets back." He paused there to eat some food; he had not eaten much since sitting down, having spent most of the time talking and catching up.

Eeth had remained silent during Eden's account although his eyebrows went up a few times at some of Eden's more glaring exaggerations.

Azimech, who had already raised a padawan before Alec, grinned. She knew to take these stories with a grain of salt. "So, you are Eeth Koth?" she asked. "You were knighted very recently, weren't you? I heard of you from my first padawan."

"You did?" Eeth asked, somewhat surprised. "Was it someone in my year? In that case, you must have taken on a new padawan very fast."

Azimech laughed. "No, Laya was several years older than you and knighted two years ago," she clarified. "But she lost against you in the sparring competition twice, and it grated on her. You must be very proficient with a saber."

"I do my best," said Eeth diplomatically, knowing perfectly well that his best was a lot better than just about all other young Jedi's best and that nobody liked him to point this out.

Eden snorted at Eeth's remark, accidentally sending a piece of food flying onto his plate. He covered the peccadillo, though, quickly swallowing and commenting. "Yeah, you do your best," he said. Then he turned his attention to the others again. "But I got some new tricks to try out on Jay. It might have just been worth getting my ass kicked up one side and down the other. Maybe," he said, taking another bite of his meal

Again, Eeth merely raised his eyebrows but did not comment.

Azimech did not bother to hide her amusement. He would not make a bad master if only he loosened up a little, she thought.

After lunch, Eden and Eeth shopped for groceries in the Temple stores and Eeth dropped by his quarters to fetch some spare clothes. By the time they arrived back at Eden's and Jay's quarters, messages from Eden's teachers had arrived that detailed what they had done in class during his absence. Eeth made Eden sit down with him and compare it to the work he had done during the trip. Fortunately, Eden was up to scratch in most subjects and ahead of his class in two. "Alright," said Eeth, putting the data pads aside. "Let us go to the gym, then."

"Really? Can't we skip it today? We only just returned. I'm tired and I want to finish working on my biology." Eden wasn't enthusiastic. Then again, he rarely was when it came to working out, especially so with Eeth.

"No, we cannot skip it," Eeth said sternly. "Neither today nor on any other day unless you are ill. Fetch your gym bag."

"I am ill!" Eden countered testily, but what had started out as a retort, had turned sheepish by the end.

Eeth decided to ignore this rather silly outburst. For now. However, the look Eeth gave Eden told him he was treading on thin ice.

Eden dropped his gaze, turned and ran for his room, quickly palming the door closed behind himself. He stood frozen in the middle of his bedroom for a moment, just staring at the door. When Eeth did not come thundering through it, paddle in hand as he'd half expected, he scrambled for his gym bag and started shoving stuff in.

Once they had arrived at the gym, Eeth started on a warm-up that made use of a number of things that had been unavailable in their starship or on the beach, such as skipping ropes and weights. Eden was at an age where Eeth thought it was important that he put on more muscle mass. He also needed to increase his stamina, seeing as he was going to leave on more and more missions in the near future.

Skipping ropes, Eden was familiar with. Weights? Not so much. Like Eeth, Jay pushed weights that Eden could not fathom ever lifting; his own paled in comparison and, despite knowing it was arrogant of him to look at it this way, it made him feel inferior.

They ended the workout with sparring, and as usual, Eden was about ready to toss his saber by the time he was done. He was sweating, sore and had not gained a single point against Eeth. He was getting tired of being bested, he really was. There had to be a way to beat this guy!

Eeth gave Eden the rest of the afternoon off, and the evening, too, since he had no homework and there were no chores to be done. However, he told the boy to be back by seven thirty at the latest. It had been a long day due to the time lag and Eden was due to go back to school tomorrow, after all.

The afternoon off was unexpected, and Eden accepted it gratefully. He did what he knew Jay would expect of him, that was, he loaded the washing into the machine and helped to prepare dinner. For most of the remaining time, he was crashed out on the sofa with his holo book. After dinner, he helped to clean up. Then, knowing that most padawans would be congregating at the lounge soon, he got permission and took off.

When Eden entered the padawans' lounge none of his friends had arrived. It had just gone six-thirty, after all. He sat down and continued reading his novel until…

"Eden! Get your nose out of your datapad! Don't you get enough of that during classes?" Alec jibed, poking the boy's pad and deactivating it.

"Alec, hey," Eden smiled, happy to ditch his datapad. Just then, Brin and Atlas entered and sat down in the small circle that was fast growing as his friends continued to filter in.

Eden was not the only padawan to have just returned from a mission; Atlas had also. Thus, they each had a turn at describing their adventures. Eden's was met with more questions, however, especially about the knight tasked with his continued care.

"Eeth Koth, he's a Zabrak guy, right? I know of him. He assisted with my master's advanced lightsaber class a few times. I did not do the class, obviously, but I watched. He's good, but someone inserted a hot poker up his ass at birth and never removed it," commented Brin, drawing smirks from some and confused looks from those who had no idea who Eeth was.

"Yeah, he's a bit rigid, not to mention unbeatable."

"Nobody is unbeatable," Brin snorted confidently. He was the only one of their group standing and was twirling his saber above his hand as he often did. Brin was by far the best fighter in their age range, which meant he often competed against opponents several years his senior.

"Trust me. Not even you could win a trick with this guy. I've tried everything," Eden replied.

"I hate to point this out, but your 'everything' is not exactly all that much."

Eden frowned, but before he could defend himself, Alec spoke up.

"He has a point, but you're good at other things," he placated. "I questioned my master about him after lunch today. He agreed; apparently, he flattened her first apprentice, Laya, a few times, too. I asked her about him later. She says he was entirely too full of himself."

Eden smirked at that. He could see how Eeth would come across that way in short doses, hell, even in longer doses! He was irritatingly good. "Yeah, he is. Oh well, I'm stuck with him for another two days, and I'm certain he's not suddenly going to start cutting me slack just because we are back home."

"The guy is twenty-two and a brand new knight. How bad can it be?" challenged a Nautolan girl named Fin, whom Eden recognised from some of his classes.

"He carries a paddle around in his belt." The statement was left hanging as all eyes turned on Eden, each expressing a different level of surprise.

Eden coughed. "And he's not shy about using it! I caught it a few times for testing him." He had to admit that telling that story had him feeling prideful over his battle wounds.

The group exchanged glances for a moment. "For real?" Atlas asked.

Eden just looked at him. "No, I made it up… Of course for real!" He went on to explain about their training sessions and how hard they had been. Most of the others were intrigued, a couple winced, but Brin just rolled his eyes.

"Bet anything a few of us could land a hit, especially if he's surprised. No one is that good," he stated boldly.

"Bet anything he'd kick your ass all over the gym. Then, when he's finished with you, he'll start on the rest of us," said Eden.

Spurred on by Brill, this conversation went on for quite some time until the group had worked themselves into a dare. Eden knew they would be training at three tomorrow afternoon and in what room; Eeth had told him so he might be prepared. They were going to be using the junior aerials room, a room that was often taken up by several teams. Therefore, the presence of a few onlookers and solo padawans would not look out of place. He was going to meet Brin and Alec there tomorrow. Both boys were going to observe for a while. Then, when Eeth least expected it, they were going to jump him. Not maliciously of course, but just to see if he really was all that and perhaps to prove a point: no twenty-two-year-old knight could fend off three padawans, something had to give. Besides, Eden wanted to get a bit of his own back for once.

Eden was still grinning when he entered his quarters at precisely seven-thirty that evening. It was early, and he'd copped flack over the curfew, but he'd taken it in stride; he really was tired, and he was glad to have Eeth to use as a scapegoat there. "Evening," he greeted the man politely and tossed his cloak on the sofa.

Eeth had busied himself reading up on galactic events. He looked up when Eden entered. "Good evening," he said formally. "Please get ready for bed. After that, we will meditate." He did notice that Eden seemed to be in a good mood, but he put that down to the fact that the boy was back at the Temple and had seen his friends; he was bound to be pleased at that.

Yes, Eden was in a good mood because almost without any effort on his part, he'd managed to get his friends onboard. It would be satisfying to see Eeth get a taste of his own medicine, for a change. There was a lingering doubt that this might backfire, though. Eeth really was good, and there was a possibility that he might just wipe the floor with them and then paddle what was left, or worse, set them to do some sort of horrific muscle-building exercises. That thought had Eden spitting toothpaste, and he quickly grabbed his face washer to clean it off the mirror.

By the time he had changed into his sleep pants and emerged, the boy had himself collected again. He was possibly a little more guarded than usual during this meditation, but not to the point where it would draw Eeth's attention. When he opened his eyes, the kid yawned; it was early, but he had to admit he was tired. He sat back on his heels and looked over at the knight. "I guess this wasn't what you imagined for your first mission. To be honest, it wasn't how I saw it ending either. I didn't want to leave. It made me feel like a youngling being escorted off-planet," he said. Eeth was not the easiest person to talk to, but he felt like trying to converse with the man, so he did.

Eeth recognised the attempt at conversation for what it was. He was not a talkative person, but his master had done her best to teach him not to rebuff such attempts without good reason. Today was one of the days on which he managed to remember that lesson. It probably helped that Eden's statement was not forcing him to become overly personal.

"That is understandable," he replied. "I would have felt the same way at your age. And, yes, I had imagined my first mission as a knight to be different from this. But this is where duty placed me and I can accept that. Since the whole affair did not turn out to be as straightforward as the Council had hoped for, it did help you gain some experience. And me, for that matter."

"Yeah, experience driving kick-ass boats, that part was awesome. You can keep your boulders and hellish workouts, though," the boy stated.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "You need to build muscle," he pointed out, "and improve your endurance. Both are extremely important, now that you are being sent on missions. I might have done you a favour there, even if you cannot see it that way right now."

Eden snorted, but if he was honest with himself, he didn't actually hold any grudge there, and so he let it drop. "I hope Elis got on okay. Sage and Taram, too." He looked reflective. "I left them a note with the clothing shop lady but I doubt they'll understand why we couldn't just hang around. I wouldn't. Undercover work is harder than I thought it would be. Trying to hide being a Jedi and all."

"Yes, it can be," Eeth agreed. "We usually try to avoid forming friendships when working undercover. It will only create awkward situations and possibly the necessity to lie. But it is not always possible or sensible to stick to that rule; I have been on a few missions where the close connections that my master forged to some locals helped us achieve our goals faster and more effectively." Never had it been Eeth who had actually forged such connections, and he was painfully aware of his shortcomings in that field although he saw no need to voice these feelings.

Making friends had never been an issue for Eden. It just seemed to come naturally, and it didn't occur to him to question Eeth over why he'd said it was his master who had done this and not himself.

He let his bum slip through his heels to sit on the floor. He wanted to talk, but he didn't know what to talk about, and Eeth wasn't the best at keeping conversations running. He scratched his head and then yawned. "So, you still planning to carry that thing around, or was that just for the mission?" he queried, gesturing to where he assumed Eeth still had the paddle tucked beneath his tunic.

"I plan to carry it around for as long as I have padawans or initiates to look after," Eeth replied evenly. He was well aware that this might make him unpopular, but he felt a need to be prepared for everything. And expecting misbehaviour from an eleven-year-old was not all that far-fetched, in his experience. He was honestly not waiting to pounce on the next opportunity to swing his paddle; he was merely trying to be realistic.

Eeth was correct, that news did not make him popular, at least not with Eden. He didn't get the impression that the knight was waiting for any excuse to use it, but neither did he like the fact that he was prepared for such occasions. The boy shrugged. He supposed it wasn't much different to Jay who had his belt most of the time. Granted, his belt served another purpose and did not stand out as an object specifically put there to spank him.

"You should go to bed now," Eeth told Eden. "The day has been several hours longer than usual for you, and tomorrow you will need to go to classes."

"I'm not tired," Eden replied in a deadpan tone. "Maybe we can watch some holo?" It was a long shot but one he thought worth taking.

Eeth was good at recognising lies; he always had been, even before he had known that he possessed Force awareness. His master had told him that there was more to it than Force awareness, anyway. He was also simply very perceptive. In some cases, where emotional issues were involved, he had difficulties making sense of his perceptions, but when people lied, he always recognised the signs. Besides, he had just meditated with Eden, and he knew the boy was tired; exhausted even. "Go to bed," he said firmly. "You need your sleep, and your claim not to be tired is a blatant lie."

Eden gave him an indignant look and sat up a little taller. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I nearly always know when someone is lying to me," Eeth replied rather sternly. "And you were, weren't you?"

Eden wasn't sure where to go with that. He didn't exactly want to confess to lying, but neither did he think he'd get away with telling another lie. Hmm. He jutted out his chin and settled on ambiguity. "Maybe."

Eeth's eyes narrowed. He was vaguely aware that he might be overreacting, but he was quite allergic to dishonesty. "That kind of evasiveness will not buy you any favours," he snapped. "It was a yes-or-no question. And since it was your lie we are talking about, you are bound to know the answer. Was it a lie, yes or no?"

By now, the look on Eden's face was more piteous than indignant, although his arms were still folded firmly about his chest. "Yes," he answered curtly, his gaze dropping for a second before he looked up again.

If this had been Eeth's own padawan (not that he was remotely thinking of taking a padawan!), he would probably have felt compelled to punish the lie by way of his paddle. As it was, he had no idea how strict Jay was on such matters. Therefore, he contented himself with saying sternly: "Don't do it again. And the next time, follow my instructions without an argument, especially when it is an argument that you cannot win. You are tired. Therefore, you will go to bed."

Eden's jaw clenched, and his back stiffened. Sure, he had expected to be told off for that, and perhaps a bit more, but he was tired and not taking this as well as he ought to. Besides, he had his boyish pride to preserve – not that pride had any place in the life of a Jedi… He knew, yeah, at least in theory he knew. "Good evening," he said stiffly, and with that, he stood abruptly, turned and strode grumpily towards his bedroom.

"Good night," Eeth said calmly, refusing to rise to the slight provocation. He could sense the boy's fatigue; he would hopefully be in a better mood for a night's worth of sleep.

That night Eden lay there staring up at the ceiling for a long time. It wasn't that he was angry at Eeth, not at all; he was just overtired and missed his master. The meditations he'd been doing with Eeth had been enough for him to almost connect with Jay this evening. It had been a little over twenty minutes since he'd been sent to bed, but his mind was still racing despite his fatigue. He could no longer hear the knight in their common room, so he risked sitting up. When nobody stirred, he threw his legs over his bed and crept to the door. Unfortunately, since his door was automatic, there was just no way to open it just a little; it was all or nothing. That thought had him hesitate; did he dare? No, and so he dragged his feet back to his bed.

Eeth heard or sensed Eden moving around in his room. He stood up and walked over to the boy's door. "Go to bed and stay there!" he called. "You need your sleep."

"Go to bed and stay there," Eden mimicked in a mock-Eeth voice, and forcefully pulled the covers around himself. He tossed and turned for another half hour before exhaustion eventually won out and the boy fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Given the events of this past week, Eden slept solidly until Eeth turned the light on in his bedroom the next morning. He was up in a flash, though, and busy getting himself organised for classes.

When he emerged from his bedroom, he was dressed in a clean uniform. His hair was still slightly damp and spiky from the wet hand he'd run through it. His padawan's braid had been attempted but it was apparent that this was still a skill he was learning. "Hey," he said in way of greeting, opening his pack to shove in his datapad. He withdrew his hand fast, though, as he felt something squishy in the bottom; a mouldy piece of half eaten fruit that must have been there from the last time he had gone to classes. He wrinkled his nose.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "Is anything the matter?" he inquired.

"No," he replied out of reflex, tossing his datapad onto the couch and pulling the offending fruit from his pack. Ew. It was squishy and had a sharp smell that had him recoiling and holding it away from himself. "I could have used this as a chemistry assignment," he said as he took it to the rubbish.

Eeth frowned. "Make sure there is no fruit pulp sticking to the inside of your pack," he said. "And wash your hands thoroughly."

"You give a lot of orders, do you know that?"

"I do," Eeth said coolly. "But I do not take a lot of cheek."

Eden rolled his eyes at that, not that Eeth could see it as he was already moving to do as he was told. He upended his pack, making sure it was clean, and then he washed his hands.

Eeth looked him over. "I will help you with your braid," he said, not bothering to phrase this as a question. "Let us have breakfast first, though." He had prepared a type of porridge with fruit and nuts that he and his master had both liked. It was filling and healthy, too. Ever since having escaped from Nar Shaddaa, Eeth had considered the availability of clean and healthy food a great blessing, and one that he was grateful for.

Eden pulled his braid to one side and eyed it critically. It was lumpy, and he had left out a strand of hair that kind of stuck out. Okay, so it was a bit of a dog's breakfast. During their mission, he'd had it untied or tucked into his hat, and during school and time at the Temple, his master helped him do it although Eden knew this was something he needed to learn to do for himself, so he always tried. He studied Eeth's appearance which, compared to their time on the islands, was immaculate. His hair was pulled into two long, sleek tails that hung low down each side of his chest and were fastened with two brown ties that would have been similar in colour to his cloak had he been wearing it. His uniform was free from creases, his boots shiny and there wasn't a speck of sand on him. Even his fingernails were clean and neatly trimmed. Conversely, Eden was sure he was going to be finding sand on himself for the rest of his apprenticeship.

They ate mostly in silence. It was not that Eden was not looking forward to classes or that he minded Eeth's presence, but he simply couldn't think of anything to say. Thus, he said nothing. When their breakfast was finished, he helped with the dishes and then went to his bedroom to retrieve his comb. "Thanks," he said simply, putting the comb on the table and waiting for instructions.

"Sit down," Eeth said. He stood behind Eden and deftly plaited a braid that looked presentable and would not come apart for the rest of the day. He had some experience, after all. While he had never gone for the short and spiky haircut that many human padawans traditionally sported, thinking that it would look silly on a Zabrak and make undercover work difficult, he had worn a braid during all of his padawanhood, which had only ended a few short weeks ago. And he had actually enjoyed it when his master had done his braid for him in the early days although he had never admitted it. Therefore, he had no issue with doing it for Eden. "There you are," he said, briefly clapping a hand on Eden's shoulder. "You should really leave for classes now."

The boy stood and took his comb. "Thanks," he said when he looked at the job Eeth had done. It was actually better than Jay's efforts. He guessed that Eeth, having been a padawan himself recently and also having long hair, had plenty of practice, whereas Jay had not worn a braid in thirty years. He ran back to his room and put the comb away. Then, he snagged his pack from the couch and donned his cloak. "Straight home after classes?" he questioned. Usually, his master would give him instructions before he left. He wasn't sure what Eeth had planned for them other than the workout at 3pm. The workout! That thought sent a jolt of excitement through him, mingled with a thread of fear. Eeth was not exactly a tyrant, not exactly, but Eden had no idea how the man would take what he had orchestrated. Would it be worth it to see him bested? As he looked at Eeth again, suddenly the man seemed a lot taller and more muscular than he had remembered yesterday when he and his friends had come up with this crazy plan. Maybe he'd chicken out?

"Yes, please," said Eeth. He was planning on having a workout and then preparing lunch for both of them. Noticing Eden's scrutinising look, he raised his eyebrows. "Is something the matter?" he inquired.

"No," Eden replied convincingly as he wiped his palms on his trousers. "Classes finish at 1 pm today. I'll see you then," he told him, and with that took off to begin his day.

As it turned out his friends did not want to chicken out. Brin was looking forward to proving himself right and Alec, although mostly unfazed, seemed curious enough to want to go ahead with it. Eden, on the other hand, was starting to get a little nervous about their plan. "Maybe we shouldn't," he whispered during their chemistry class. They were doing labs for the last hour, so a little bit of talking was acceptable.

"Shouldn't what?" Alec questioned him, his hand poised over the test-tube wondering if he was about to add the wrong substance. He was rechecking the chemical list when Eden clarified.

"I mean with Eeth this afternoon."

"I can't believe you're still going on about that. Don't be such a coward, he's a brand new knight," Brin scoffed and turned up the heat on their burner.

"Besides, he might just enjoy the challenge, you never know," added Alec.

"Hey, take that back. I'm no coward, and you know it!" Eden said a little too loudly, drawing the attention of their instructor, who was now making his way over to their bench.

"Boys, this is a labs class. Pull yourselves together and focus on what you are doing. Get those ratios wrong, and you'll be the ones cleaning it up. Last warning," he said quietly so that no one other than the three at their bench would hear.

"Yes, Sir," they chorused, remaining silent until the man was once again busy with another bench of students.

"Good one, Eden. Why don't you just hold up a sign inviting him to come tell us off next time," Brin teased, but it was clear that it was only teasing, nothing malicious.

Eden smirked and bumped the boy with his shoulder. Unfortunately, this caused him to drop the ampule he had just snapped the top off into the mix.

An hour later they were still cleaning up the sticky mess that had oozed from their chemical concoction and fused to the desk. None of the boys had bothered to try talking their way around what had caused it, nor were they surprised to be held back for as long as it took to clean their mess.

In the meanwhile, their instructor had contacted each of their quarters to inform their masters or, in Eden's case, guardian, why they were going to be home late today. When he deemed their efforts satisfactory, the instructor lectured them for ten minutes on the expected behaviour during labs, then handed them each an extra assignment on that very subject before dismissing them.

Each boy wore a different expression as they left the classroom. Brin was indignant, wanting to blow off steam, his demeanour irritated. Alec was taking it all in stride; nothing much seemed to bother that kid. Eden was an equal mix of the two although he was also a bit nervous about facing Eeth over what happened in class. It was the first time he'd ever gotten in trouble during a class as a padawan, so even if this had been Jay, the boy would have been a bit wary.

"See you at three, unless I'm grounded," Alec said, stepping inside the lift.

Eden and Brin lived quite close, so they walked together. "Will you get in trouble?" Eden asked conversationally. Brin seemed annoyed, but he could sense more; regret and guilt.

"Yeah, probably. This is the third time this month I've gotten behavioural reports from my classes. I might not make it to our sparring match at three. It depends on the extent of his displeasure. You're lucky Jay isn't here."

Eden scoffed at that comment. "As I told you before, Eeth is no pushover. So far he has been pretty predictable with consequences; if I mess up badly enough, he'll punish me for it. Pretty straightforward."

It was just after two in the afternoon when Eden entered his quarters. He threw his cloak and pack on the couch. Then, instead of heading for the kitchen as he typically did, he took off for his bedroom.

"Stop!" Eeth called, emerging from the kitchen to see Eden's retreating back. "I do not know where you think you are going, but neither will you skip lunch nor are you getting out of explaining what held you back at school. Wash your hands and sit down." He pointed at the table that was already set. He had just been reheating the pasta dish he had cooked which had gone cold in the meanwhile, due to Eden's delay.

Eden froze at Eeth's order, the knee-jerk reaction testament to a lifetime spent training as a Jedi youngling. He turned to face the man, his nose wrinkled and expression one of clear disdain. "Fine," he replied and went to the kitchen to wash his hands. The kid took his time with this although there was only so long one could draw such a simple task out. When he sat at the table, he was looking anywhere but at Eeth. "Can I help?" Anything was better than talking about what happened during class and maybe postponing that conversation would give him time to settle his stomach.

"No," Eeth replied. "Lunch is ready; after all, I had expected you to be home shortly after one o'clock. Sit down, eat, and then tell me what happened." He sat down himself and pushed the bowl of pasta towards Eden, inviting him to serve himself.

"Sorry," Eden said, and to his credit, the kid really was sorry about that. He could tell by the meal that Eeth had cooked it himself and he felt guilty that it had gone cold thanks to his messing around. Picking up the serving spoon he quickly filled his plate and started eating. It was good, and he said as much, but not much else; he wasn't keen on discussing what happened today, nor was he willing to bring it up.

Eeth had booked a training room at three, and he was not willing to postpone their scheduled slot. Therefore, as soon as Eden had emptied his plate, he said: "Alright. Tell me what happened. And make it straight and to the point, please." In his experience, most children tended to "emm" and "aaahh" a lot when confronted with their own misbehaviour, and he had little patience for that.

Fortunately, by the time Eden had had his fill, his stomach had unknotted and his nerves abated. Sort of. For a while there, he had had hopes that Eeth would think it was all too much hassle and let it slide. Those hopes were dashed, though, when he was asked to explain. He coughed once and took a drink. Stalling. Straight and to the point? He wasn't sure if he could make this succinct, not to mention the fact that he wasn't exactly in a hurry to tell this story. "Uh. Okay. Well, it's just that it's not that simple, it's complicated…"

"Nevertheless, I am sure it is not beyond your ability to tell me," Eeth said, giving him a quelling look. "Preferably right now."

The look on Eden's face would have said it all. His nose wrinkled, his brow furrowed and he blew out a sigh. "Fine, be like that, then." He wasn't thrilled, but nor was Eeth giving him another choice. "Brin, Alec and I were doing the practical part of our labs. We were caught talking about other things and not focusing once, and warned about paying attention. Then Brin said something, and I playfully bumped him, and he dropped the ampule into the flask. The stuff coagulated and started growing. It went everywhere and if our instructor had not doused our experiment in a neutralising agent, it probably would have taken over the Temple." He paused to look at the man for a second before continuing. "We got a zero for that lab." This information had been sobering; he'd never failed anything before, and he did not like it. "We also have to write a two-thousand-word essay on the lab safety rules and why they are in place, due in two weeks. We cleaned the mess up ourselves. That's why I was late. No big deal." The latter was tacked on in hopes that Eeth would agree with him.

"Hmm," said Eeth noncommittally, but the expression on his face made clear that he was rather unimpressed.

He pondered what to do about this. This was a new situation for him as well; so far, he had never had to punish an initiate or padawan for misbehaviour that had occurred outside his own sphere of responsibility. Did he have to punish Eden, though? His own master had not usually punished him for incidents at school (which had been rare, anyway) unless the teacher involved had specifically asked her to. Eden had had to clean up the lab and received an assignment. There was a chance that his master might have considered that sufficient punishment. On the other hand, Eden's instructor had asked Eeth in his message to discuss Eden's behaviour with him and make clear to him that it was unacceptable. That was a rather ambiguous request and probably meant to leave Eeth some leeway. The problem was that Eeth was having unexpected difficulty deciding on the right course of action.

He looked at Eden's face. The boy looked distinctly guilty, and that settled things for him. If he himself had done such a thing as a padawan, he would have expected his master to punish him. It just seemed the right thing to do under the circumstances. He had no intention to draw this out unduly, but there had to be some repercussions lest Eden receive the impression that his behaviour had not been all that bad.

Without further ado, Eeth pushed back his chair and pulled the paddle out of his belt.

"Your behaviour has been unacceptable and you know it," he said. "I will give you a good incentive to show more respect towards your teachers and their instructions the next time. Come here, bare your bottom and bend over."

Oblivious to Eeth's thoughts, Eden fidgeted his way through the short stretch of silence, his expression growing increasingly sombre. When the knight spoke, his gaze lifted, but the appearance of his paddle and his words drew a pained groan from the boy. He stood and dragged his feet to stand before him. "Eeth… please." He looked into the knight's eyes, hoping that the familiar address and his sincerity would garner some leniency here. "This was a once-off, I swear. I never get into trouble in classes, not ever. It won't happen again." He unconsciously covered his backside with a hand and shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, and I plan to give you a reason to keep that promise," Eeth said, unfazed. "Bare your bottom and get over my lap. If I need to tell you again, it will only be the worse for you."

"I don't need incentive." Eden flung open the clasp on his trousers with a little too much force and flinched as the sound of half the clasp hit the wall and rattled to the floor.

Eeth remained silent, but he gave Eden a glare that would have a Hutt running, tapping the paddle on his upper thigh once. It was quite plain that he was running out of patience.

Eden did his best to ignore that as he slid his underwear, and what was left of his belt and trousers, to his knees in a single curt motion. He hesitated. Why? Because the last time Eeth put him over his knee it was because the paddling was more than he could take standing up. He hoped that was not the case this time. After a second, he leant forward and placed himself so that his ass was positioned over Eeth's right thigh and his hands and feet were braced against the flooring.

Eeth shifted Eden a little further forward and started bringing the paddle down onto Eden's bottom. Since this was apparently a first offence and Eden's teacher had not specifically asked for such a form of punishment, he decided to keep this spanking at a moderate level and not to draw it out unduly. Eden would not enjoy it, but neither would he be in excruciating pain. It was about the equivalent of what Eeth usually meted out for misbehaviour in class: a dozen firm and fast swats, all focussed on the most tender part of Eden's bottom.

Eden gritted his teeth through the first few, but by the halfway point, the kid was starting to struggle. It stung and burned like nothing else. He started to writhe and shift his weight from foot to foot; who knew, maybe he would writhe himself right off Eeth's lap? That was seeming less likely by the second. By the eight swat he was yelping, and by the time Eeth landed the tenth he had started begging. He had no idea how many the knight was going to give him, after all. "Stop, AHHH!" he hissed as the twelfth smack practically took his breath away.

"I was going to," Eeth said calmly, "but you had better not try to order me around." Thus, as a matter of principle, he added one more swat, to the tops of Eden's thighs, and then released his hold on the boy.

"Aowwwwch!" That last one had really fucking hurt. Eden quickly scrambled to his feet, rubbing furiously at the backs of his thighs with both hands. He was not crying, he wasn't! A sleeve was dragged across his eyes as he lowered his head. Eden wasn't feeling guilty any more although he did feel the need to sulk, if only for show. So, he folded both arms tightly about his chest and glared. He didn't bother with his trousers; they weren't going to stay up after he'd busted the clasp. This lasted until it became clear that Eeth wasn't going to start feeling sorry for him all of a sudden. If anything, it might just be the opposite. When he realised that, Eden dropped the defiant act immediately and sniffled once. "May I be excused?" Usually, Jay would pull him into a hug regardless of whether he wanted it or not, but Eeth was not Jay, and he did not want to cry in front of the man if he could help it.

"Yes, you may," Eeth replied. "And do something about these pants of yours. If you cannot repair the clasp, I will show you how to do so tonight. Be back here at ten to three with your gym bag."

Again, Eden swiped a sleeve across his face, only this time it targeted the area beneath his nose. He nodded once. Then he turned on his heel and ran for his room. The second his door slid shut, the boy threw himself on his bed and cried – not because that punishment had been the worst of his life, far from it, but because everything was getting on top of him. He was getting in trouble more than he usually did and he was feeling rebellious towards Eeth for no reason that he could understand!

At exactly ten to three, the boy exited his bedroom clad in a clean workout uniform, a sombre expression on his face. Eeth had already changed into workout clothes and was waiting for him by the door, his bag packed. "I'm sorry, but," Eden started. Then, remembering Jay's many lessons on apologies, he started again. "I'm sorry that I misbehaved in class," he said quietly. His ass still hurt, but it was not unbearable.

"Apology accepted," Eeth said. He said it rather gently because it had been a good apology and Eden seemed a little dejected to him. He decided not to be too hard on the boy during their workout today; a short warm-up and some freestyle sparring would suffice, and maybe the mineral baths after that.

Eden shouldered his pack and waited for Eeth to lead on. He hoped that his friends would not be able to make it as he was not exactly keen on pushing Eeth further today.

Eeth led the way, with Eden dragging his feet and following slowly behind him. He was particularly loath to exercise today as he had figured out over the years that working out with a sore ass was unpleasant; sweat tended to itch and sting the skin.

When they entered the gym, Eden immediately started looking around for Alec and Brin, his face visibly relaxing when he could see nor sense either of his friends nearby. Maybe they had gotten into trouble? He doubted that Alec would catch much. After all, it had mostly been his fault. Brin, however, had not shared his optimism. Eden had to admit that if this were his third behavioural report this month, he would be nervous, too. He threw his pack on the bench and turned an unenthusiastic expression on the knight. Typically, he'd have come up with some smart-alec remark about the sort of torment Eeth was about to put him through, but after having been made to lug boulders up trees, Eden kept his mouth closed.

Eeth led Eden through a warm-up that was thorough, but a little less demanding than usual. He had a vague sense that the boy was feeling downcast. That was understandable; he doubtlessly missed his master, and on top of that, he had been punished for the trouble he had got into in class. Eeth was perfectly willing to go easy on him. Or at least slightly less hard than usual.

When the warm-up was complete, he said: "Freestyle sparring now. Try to apply the things you have learned whenever possible; but first and foremost, improvise."

Meanwhile, Alec was sitting on the highest tower. Not many junior padawans were allowed up here unsupervised, but given that he was almost 180cm tall at just eleven, he had doubted anyone would question his right to be here. As it turned out, he was correct. He wouldn't jump, of course, but it gave him a good vantage point from which to observe Eeth and Eden. They were barely ten minutes into the match, and Alec could not see what Eden was complaining about. Sure, he hadn't scored a hit on the man, but nor did it look like Eeth was kicking him all over the gym as Eden had described.

He was about to jump down when he caught sight of Brin entering the gym. The teen wore a slight scowl on his face and was walking a little stiffly.

Alec started down the ladder to intercept Brin before he spotted Eeth and Eden sparring and flew into their plans. He jumped the last four meters, landing slightly off and turning his ankle, but he ignored the slight pain and ran anyway. "Brin, Brin!" he called and smiled when the boy turned.

"Hey Alec, man, you ready to kick some ass? I need to blow off some steam." Brin's expression had brightened upon seeing his friend, although Alec could tell he had been crying as his eyes were slightly red-rimmed.

"I'm not sure. The guy doesn't look like he's exactly monstering Eden or anything. I dunno. Let's watch some more before jumping to conclusions."

Brin looked disappointed but conceded that it couldn't hurt to watch. He made to sit but reconsidered. His hesitation was all-telling, as was his choice to remain standing.

"That bad?" Alec enquired, his expression sympathetic.

"Yeah, it was. I got another coming next week, too."

"At least you aren't grounded."

"Nah, he rarely does. Says there's little point given the small amount of social time I get. Telling you, though, I'd take a year of grounding over another twelve with the cane," Brin complained, unwittingly rubbing the seat of his pants.

It was at that moment that Eden noticed his two friends. His eyes went wide, and he gave the universal signal for them to abort the mission! Unfortunately, his lack in focus meant he failed to block, and Eeth had him flat on his ass in a heartbeat. "Ahh!" he hissed as his ass made contact with the hard flooring. The slight distraction was all it took, and a second later his saber was sent skidding across the floor.

"Focus!" snapped Eeth, unaware of what had caused the interruption. He summoned Eden's saber, using the Force, and held it out to him. "That was completely unnecessary," he said sternly. "Try it again, and pay attention to what you are doing. And to your balance."

"I am trying!" the boy snapped, snatching his weapon from the man and rubbing at his ass briefly with his other hand. That had been embarrassing and to add insult to injury, his friends had probably seen the whole thing.

Oh, yes, Alec and Brin had seen it, and they both raised a brow at the rebuke. "I'd expect the same from my master if I did that," Alec said reasonably.

"Yeah, but Eden's not exactly the best fighter, and the guy was kinda harsh on him." They watched for another minute, both boys paying careful attention to the fight. Eden was leaving himself open, and Eeth was not missing those openings, nor was he failing to point them out. The man was barking out corrections in a clipped, matter-of-fact tone left and right.

Again Eden was floored, only this time he tumbled a bit first before rolling backwards and into a low crouch. His saber had been knocked flying once again, but he was fast this time and used the Force to summon it. Just as he was picking himself up, he saw a blue and green blade flash to life behind Eeth. He bit his lip, a slight smile on his face as he recognised his two friends; he was tired of being beaten today, and now he wanted that chance at retribution!

Alec had not planned to intervene, but when Brin ignited his blade, he could not let him go alone. His ankle was still a bit sore, but it was nothing that was going to hinder him. Brin, on the other hand, had taken twelve licks with a cane barely half an hour ago and was smarting, not that the kid showed it; he was a Jedi after all, and this was going to be cathartic.

Both boys rounded on Eeth in a classic pairs tactic: if one of them failed the other should manage to score a hit. In theory.

Brin took the lead, charging up behind the man and somersaulting to land to his left, just outside the man's peripheral vision. He lunged with a powerful attack that, if Eeth failed to block, would undoubtedly land him on his back. That left Alec to back this up, the two working in perfect sync.

Eden, having seen this coming, had taken his time getting up, waited for the right moment and then charged from the front. Eeth was going down. The three of them were going to drop him like a toilet seat, and it was going to feel incredibly satisfying!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This is the final chapter for this story, but we are continuing with Eeth – and his second padawan, Raven. So, keep an eye out for their first story! We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have stuck with us and left reviews, feedback and send IM's. We hope you enjoy the final chapter of Eeth Koth: Jedi Knight and Babysitter.

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Eeth was rather surprised to suddenly find himself facing off against three opponents, rather than one. His reflexes were in perfect working order, however, and he was certainly not going to allow them to take him down! He had long ago stopped relying on his vision, peripheral or otherwise, and had therefore sensed the attack through the Force just in time. With a complex move that was so fast he was practically a blur, he countered Brin's attack so powerfully that the boy landed flat on his back. Without a pause, Eeth vaulted out of harm's way, spun around and only now noticed that his attackers were two padawans about Eden's age - probably. One of them was impossibly tall! Eeth immediately realised what was going on. Apparently, Eden and his friends had tried to gang up on him. Alright, he thought; if they wanted a fight, they could have it although he doubted that it would go as they had planned.

He charged at Alec, his saber flashing from left to right and back in a move that tended to distract any but a very experienced opponent, driving him back to where Brin was picking himself up from the floor.

"Fuck," Brin swore when he found himself on his back. He hadn't expected such a powerful counterattack. His ass was screaming at him to get off it. Thus, he was on his feet just in time to see Alec being driven back in a move that he often used himself.

Brin was fast to flank his friend and came in from the side, using the Force to sense weaknesses in Eeth's defence but finding none, yet. As Brin attacked and parried, Alec came at Eeth from the right, and Eden vaulted over the group to land behind Eeth. He lunged at the man, going for a finishing point to his back. He wanted this.

Eeth spun round his own axis, swinging his saber in a wide arc. With an amount of precision that was only possible for someone who was completely in tune with the Force, in one single move, he deflected all three attacks, forced Brin and Alex to jump out of harm's way, and knocked Eden's saber clean out of his hands.

"You neglected your balance again," he informed the boy, meanwhile closing in on Brin and driving him right into Alec.

Okay, so this was maddening. Eden was starting to lose his temper, something that rarely happened to the kid. But then, this was not at all going how he had expected!

Alec and Brin were thinking the same thing! Still, Brin was not that easily intimidated; he also refused to lose any more ground backing up, so he pushed the offensive. He signalled to Alec that he change tactics, and the pair moved in tandem to push Eeth back.

Meanwhile, Eden had regained his saber for the third time this lesson – this was fast approaching his record of four times – and he came charging in again.

"Cool it, Eden," Alec said, frowning. Eden's rash move had forced him to leave Brin's side and flank the boy.

Brin was looking for a point. He was wholly focused on the prize, and he was really enjoying this match; Eeth was beyond good! Alec, too, was kinda impressed; he did not care that much about humbling Eeth although he could see why Eden might want to; Eden was no match for Eeth, not even remotely.

While Brin and Alec were decidedly better than Eden, none of them were, of course, a match for Eeth, not even with their efforts combined; especially since they still lacked the kind of training that would enable them to make the most out of their joined efforts. They clearly had some experience working out with each other, and they were a lot better at it than a bunch of randomly assembled kids would have been, but it was not enough to constitute more than a mild challenge to Eeth and one that he could easily meet.

What had started out as an attempt to flatten the man had, at least in Brin's opinion, turned into one of the best fights he'd had to date. Sure, his master rolled him often enough but Eeth's style was different, and he was picking up new skills that he would most definitely be able to use.

Alec, too, was finding the fight enjoyable. It was a good work out, and it was making him stronger. He was a boy similar to Eeth in that respect: he knew his duties, and he did his best to meet them, although with a far, far more relaxed demeanour.

Eeth closed his eyes, as he preferred to do when sparring against multiple opponents, and deflected all of their attacks so deftly and fast that he had Brin's saber spinning out of his hands, Alex stumbling backwards and Eden… well, Eden landed on his bottom. And it was clear that he was losing his temper, which would not do. "Before we go on, meditate," Eeth told Eden firmly. "You are getting angry, and you have no need for that in a sparring match."

He turned and held up a hand to halt Brin's and Alec's attack. "Wait," he ordered. "We may continue in a minute, but first, Eden needs to get a handle on his temper."

Both boys halted immediately at Eeth's instructions, Brin surprised that he wanted to do as he was told for a change, and Alec complying as a matter of duty.

Eden was still wrestling with his temper. The fact that his two friends seemed to be enjoying this smackdown adding fuel to the fire. "I have a handle on my temper, I don't need to meditate," he scoffed, getting to his feet in a huff and dusting himself off with quick, agitated swipes. Usually he would jump at the opportunity to meditate as it would get him out of the work he didn't want to do. Unfortunately, his superiors had caught on to that rouse rather quickly, and he knew that any time he spent deviating would not be deducted from the work that Eden wanted over with. Yesterday! He glared at his two friends, his FRIENDS who dared to be enjoying themselves here when they were meant to be on his side.

Alec tilted his head slightly. Orders were orders, but it wasn't his place to correct his peers so he offered Eden a comradely shrug at the predicament they'd all found themselves in and remained silent.

Eeth pulled his paddle from his belt.

"Wait! Wait, just wait!" the boy blurted, backing up, his hands raised; after having copped Eeth's paddle a few times already, he was not keen on repeating it while his backside was still getting over the last encounter.

Eeth ignored him. He calmly and firmly bent Eden forward, tucked him under his left arm and brought the paddle down onto his still-sore bottom three times with considerable force. "I told you to meditate," he said sternly. "Will you obey or do you need more incentive?"

Unfortunately, unlike the first time Eden had disobeyed during a saber lesson, Eeth didn't simply produce the paddle as a warning; he used it. "Owah! OOW!" Eden twisted in the man's hold. "AAHhhwah!" Eden was jumping up and down in Eeth's grasp, not that it was getting him far. "No, no! I'll do it, lemme up, please," he rushed to get out and flung his right hand back to shield his ass. He did not want any more.

Brin raised both brows. He had assumed that Eden was exaggerating when he talked about the knight packing a paddle. Apparently, he was not. A hand went back to his backside. After all, given the state of his ass, copping that now might very well bring him to tears. That thought – and his friend's seemingly limited pain tolerance for the three swats he had received – made him wonder if the man had punished Eden for what happened today in Chemistry. He glanced at Alec who, unlike himself, wore an impassive expression.

Alec was, in fact, also surprised to see the young knight pull a proper spanking paddle from his belt. What he was not surprised over was the reason. The kid winced a bit and also noticed that his friend had not taken that very well. Yes, the swats had been hard enough to smart, but he had seen Eden edure worse without carrying on like a pork chop. Like Brin, Alec, too, deduced that Eden might have been taken to task for what happened in class earlier, and it was that, coupled with the irritation he sensed from his friend, that made the boy's expression turn from neutral to sympathetic.

Eeth stowed the paddle away and watched as Eden complied, then turned to Alec and Brin. "While we are waiting for Eden to complete his meditation," he said, "might I ask what induced you to attack me like that?"

A glimpse of apprehension flashed across Brin's face. Eeth might have returned the paddle to his belt, but now that he knew of its presence, he wasn't so sure that doing this had been a good idea, especially given the state of his ass. He reached back and unconsciously rubbed at the welts that had all but faded but felt slightly raised under his thin workout pants. His master had had more than enough of his behaviour, and he had made his displeasure crystal clear. "Eden was telling us about your sparring sessions over the last week. He said that you were really good, so we decided to come and see for ourselves." The boy shrugged once. It wasn't exactly true, but neither was it a lie. Brin simply didn't want to tell Eeth that he had wanted to see him flattened.

Alec, on the other hand, had been observing the knight carefully, and when the man's expression darkened, he elaborated. "From what he told us, we thought it would do you good to lose for once. We offered to come along and, if the situation called for it, see how good you really are." That was a lot closer to the truth without condemning any one of them. It had been them pushing this in the end, after all. Alec did not drop his gaze, nor did he look fazed. Then again, he rarely did, even in the face of severe punishment. He was aware that it was not their place as padawans to take it upon themselves to do such things, but what else could he say? 'You sounded like an arrogant know-it-all and we figured knocking you down a peg would make Eden feel better?'

Eeth more or less caught on to the implied meaning. After all, he had been called an arrogant know-it-all more than once although not by padawans who were more than ten years younger than himself. "It is not your place to decide what would or would not do me good," Eeth informed them. "You may safely leave that to older and more experienced Jedi than yourselves. Besides, you will need to learn quite a bit more about sparring before you have any chance at beating me. For a start, you are too slow, and you rely too much on eyesight. And your knowledge of coordinated attacks could be significantly improved."

Alec had the good grace to incline his head at the slight rebuke; he'd expected as much, after all, and took it in stride.

Brin, for his part, had not appreciated Alec's elaboration. He didn't think it had been wise to divulge that much information, but given Eeth's reaction and the fact that the paddle had not been reproduced, he relaxed somewhat.

Eeth drew his saber and nodded for Brin and Alec to do the same. "If you position yourselves like you did before," he said, "you make it too easy for me to drive both of you back at the same time." He proceeded to teach them a coordinated attack sequence that was not standard fare for junior padawans and that, judging from what he had seen, they had not learned yet; but they seemed to be rather capable, so he saw no reason not to.

All the while, he monitored Eden through the Force, ready to release him from his meditation once he had calmed down.

While the two were taking the lesson with Eeth, Eden was trying to rid himself of his frustration. He simply couldn't believe that what had meant to be an ambush of epic proportions had ended up this way! Well, he had expected Eeth to wipe the floor with the lot of them, but for Alec and Brin to enjoy it, that was just so not in the script! His annoyance and frustration piqued at hearing his friends taking a lesson with the man and fueled his anger before he finally managed to pull himself together. His ass stung, thanks to having the fire reignited. By the time he was suitably calm, he was pouting.

When Eeth sensed that Eden had calmed down somewhat, even if he still seemed to be sulking, he called him over. "Now let us assume the three of you want to attack me," he said. "Show me what you would do."

Eden wanted to protest but didn't dare. Thus, and despite the slight pout on his face, he glanced at his two friends and waited to see if they had a plan, as just going for broke had not been very useful so far.

Alec and Brin had both had several minutes with Eeth learning a better way to attack, so they quietly conversed with Eden to bring him up to speed. Then the three turned on Eeth, sabers drawn and determined expressions on their faces. They came at him again, only this time it was more coordinated, and rather than randomly trying to score a point, they were actively trying to manoeuvre him into a position where one or more of them had a chance at taking a point.

Meanwhile, a few padawans had stopped to watch. It wasn't every day that you saw three against one, and they were curious to know what was going on.

Eeth fended off both Alec's and Eden's attack with one low swipe of his saber and simultaneously managed to aim a kick at Brin that had him jump out of harm's way. "If you all attack at the same time from the same distance, you make things a lot easier for me," he commented, driving Alec back, then flipping backwards to disarm Eden and moving onwards to counter Brin who had just been moving into the next attack sequence. "Alec, do not make the mistake of thinking I have no idea where you are just because I have no eyes in the back of my head," he added, diving under Alec's saber and coming round to meet his attack.

Heeding his advice, the padawans started spacing out their attacks and making them more random. Not that this seemed to do much good against Eeth; he still managed to fend them off. Brin was focused on the Force. He knew that to do anything else during a fight was to do himself a discredit, so he wasn't entirely surprised when Eeth spun to block his attempt at taking a point from his back. The kid snorted. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed at being continually thwarted, or impressed at the knights fighting prowess.

Eden's feelings on this were clear; he wore a frown of concentration which deepened as his saber flung from his hand a fourth time that match. No more! he thought fervently. Four times was terrible, but five times? Five times was just taking the piss! For the rest of that match, the kid clung to his saber like it was stitched to his hand.

Alec bobbed and weaved, vaulted and genuinely seemed to be enjoying this. He, too, was in tune with the Force, but was far less aggressive than Brin and possessed far more ability than Eden. All up, they were a good team, but still, twenty minutes later none of them had managed to catch Eeth yet.

By that stage, Eden was starting to wear out. He was tired, his ass hurt, and he wanted to stop. Fortunately, he also knew that trying to get Eeth to stop before he was ready to finish the lesson was futile; consequently, he ploughed on.

Brin was doing his best to get a point out of Eeth; he wanted it badly! While he was busy fending off Alec and Eden, he vaulted over his head and in a lightning-fast move jabbed at his midsection from the side. His ass hurt something fierce now, and it was spurring him on to hurry up and make the point.

Eeth could sense the boys' fatigue, and he thought it better to stop the match. After all, he had no idea what plans their masters had made for Alex and Brin.

He therefore allowed Brin to score his hit and then called the fight to a stop. "Good one," he told Brin. "A bit too hurried, but very fast and precise. I would have been able to dodge it, but at the cost of losing ground. You did quite well, all of you." He consciously included that bit of praise because the creche masters he had worked with had kept telling him he needed to offer more praise. Apparently, children needed that for some reason or other.

Brin took that point with gusto! However, it seemed hollow when he stopped and caught his breath long enough to listen to Eeth's words; he could also sense that it had not been all his own doing. "You let me take that point," he accused, disengaging his weapon and stowing it. Having someone take pity on him was offensive.

"Yes, I did," Eeth replied to Brin, completely unfazed by the boy's tangible indignation. After all, he had learned from teaching younger padawans that not letting his opponent score any points did not tend to win him any favours either.

Brin frowned. "You needn't have; I don't need sympathy from anyone."

"You may leave that up to me to decide," Eeth replied calmly and, for anyone who knew him, predictably. "The match had to end somehow, after all. I thought you would prefer it to end with you scoring a point." Without giving the boy much of a chance to react, he turned and went to fetch his gym bag.

Brin's frown deepened, but there wasn't much he could say to that. Nor did he truly hold a grudge against Eeth; he was just irritated at his lack of skill and didn't like the fact that the only way he was able to score a point was to be given one. He snatched up his bag but otherwise didn't comment. He was going to watch out for the knight, and one day when he least expected it, he was going to have his revenge.

Eden didn't give a damn if Brin took umbrage over Eeth's lesson or not, he was simply glad it was over with.

Eeth nodded at Alec and Brin and told Eden: "Fetch your gym bag. We are going to the mineral baths."

"You want to join us?" Eden asked his two friends. It did not occur to him to ask for Eeth's permission until after he'd offered, so he looked back up at Eeth for confirmation. "If that's okay with you?"

Eeth thought for a moment, then said to Eden: "It is, but only if their masters allow it. I do not want to interfere with any chores, homework or training times."

Turning towards Alec and Brin, he offered: "You may join us in the mineral pools, but comm your masters first and ask for permission."

Both padawans did so. After all, some time spent in the mineral baths would not go amiss, especially so for Brin, given the state of his ass.

Unfortunately for Brin, his master vetoed this, ordering him home to complete his homework whereafter he was to have dinner and go to bed.

The conversation was hard not to overhear, but Eden pretended that he was otherwise occupied with packing his towel and drink bottle.

Alec got permission and was happy to follow them to the mineral baths. His ankle was throbbing by now. It wasn't enough to have him noticeably limp, but it was causing him pain, and he would welcome a good soak.

Eeth noticed that Alec was favouring one side as they made their way from the change room to the pool area. "Is something wrong with your foot?" he inquired. "Did you hurt it during our match?" He hoped not. It only now occurred to him to wonder whether the boy's master might be alright with what Eeth had put him through.

Alec looked over at Eeth, a bit surprised. He had done his best to conceal any physical signs of his injury. That said, he had not exactly been diligent with his shields; his master was not around, after all. "I landed off and twisted it," he replied, brushing the question off.

Eeth frowned. "Landed off doing what?" he inquired as he showed the two boys to a medium-sized pool in the back of the area that was currently empty.

Alec looked over at Eeth with a frank expression and told him: "Jumping from the T5." It had, of course, occurred to him to omit where he had jumped from, but Eeth didn't strike him as the sort of man to let such details slide. "Not from the top, from the first marker. I was in a hurry, and I wasn't concentrating on the Force." It had been an honest, albeit, reluctant confession. The T5 was the highest tower in that particular aerials room, and no junior padawan was allowed up there unsupervised. They all knew this, and so did Alec.

"In that case," Eeth said calmly, "I advise you to inform your master of this before he or she hears about it from me."

He pointed at a ledge at the edge of the pool and said: "Sit down and show me your foot. I will assess the damage and see whether I can perform some healing." Since Alec had still been able to spar, despite his injury, Eeth thought it likely that it was no more than a sprain but he wanted to make sure nonetheless.

Alec sat and held out his foot. Eeth's comments on telling his master the details caused a very slight frown, but nothing more.

"Don't be such a tattletale," Eden scolded Eeth and slipped into the pool opposite the two.

Eeth shot him a glare. "I would be a poor excuse for a Jedi knight if I kept this from his master," he informed Eden in a rather severe tone of voice. Then he focussed his attention on Alec's foot. As he had suspected, it was slightly sprained and bruised. The effort of the sparring match had done little to help matters. He cupped the ankle in his hands, closed his eyes and let healing energy flow into the damaged tissue.

Eden snorted, sinking further into the warm water until nothing below his eyes was visible; his backside was stinging now, but he knew this would not last long and the after effects of this pool would help with any bruises and muscular pain.

"There," Eeth said after a while. "It should feel a little better now. The minerals in the pool will help as well. If it still bothers you by tomorrow morning, your master should take you to the healers." It would also help with the state of Eden's bottom, but he felt no need to mention this.

Alec was surprised – for the second time in half an hour – by Eeth's abilities. "Did you train with the healers?" he asked, honestly wanting to know how any field knight had such mastery of healing.

"I took some courses," Eeth replied curtly. "But I had a talent for Force-aided healing even before I came to the Temple. Now lean back and let the water do its work."

"How do you know that, was it mentioned in your file?" Alec asked reasonably; after all, most Jedi were far too young to remember such details

Eeth paused. "I came to the Temple when I was four years old," he finally answered, "and my master was the person who found me on Nar Shaddaa and brought me here. So I am quite aware of what I could and could not do before the Jedi started training me."

He turned towards Eden and said brusquely: "We need to go home soon. I believe you still have homework to do." He was aware that this was a woefully transparent attempt at stopping this conversation short but he had not been able to think of anything else.

Four-years-old? That was quite old for a Jedi to be accepted into the Temple for training, but the boy said nothing. That said, neither was he fooled by Eeth's evasive response; he was quite a perceptive person himself. Thus, he let the topic drop. It was not his intention to make the knight feel uncomfortable but, for whatever reason, Eeth didn't want to talk about it.

Eden was familiar with that sort of reaction from Eeth, so he was unsurprised when Alec's question was fobbed off. He was still submerged in the water up to his eyes, but he rose enough so that his mouth was above the water line. "We only just got here," he told Eeth, sinking to eye level once again.

"I know," Eeth said. "I said 'soon', not 'now.' We will stay here for a quarter of an hour more."

"Good," said Eden, his words a bubbling mess of incomprehension having been spoken underwater.

"Did you start on that chemistry assignment yet?" Alec asked Eden, changing the subject. "We should get together with the others and exchange notes." By this, he meant that between the four of them they might limit the amount of research they had to put into such a boring assignment.

Eden and Alec talked a bit more about their assignment, and when they had a plan for that, they soaked.

True to Eeth's word, it was a quarter of an hour, to the second, before he announced that their time was up.

Both Alec and Eden left the pools without complaint. They were feeling the effects of the mineral salts by now, and it felt good on their various injuries. Alec put moderate pressure on his ankle, testing it, and then he smiled at Eeth; it was almost entirely healed. In fact, had Eeth not said that he would mention it to his master, there would be no reason to; it was undetectable now, after all. The boy sighed. His master was no tyrant, but nor would he be pleased about hearing he had been fooling around on the T5. Oh well, it was what it was. He gave Eeth a bow, smiled at Eden and parted ways with the two when they reached the junction in the corridor.

When Eden and Eeth arrived home, Eden completed his homework and chores. Then they went to the dining hall for dinner. Eden was given time to visit the lounge after that and was back right on time.

"Evening," he said in way of greeting and tossed his cloak on the couch with a yawn. He plopped onto their couch, turned on the holo-screen and started flicking through channels. "Did you do anything exciting?" he asked as Eeth exited from their joint refresher, looking immaculate as was typical.

"It so happens," Eeth replied wryly, "that I have been called out of my workout for a mission briefing. I will leave tomorrow around noon for a destination so secret that I have been asked not to tell you. In light of this, I went to see my former master and say goodbye to her."

He glanced at the wall chronometre. "Please get ready for bed," he said. "We will meditate together."

"So secret that you can't tell an eleven-year-old padawan? Gee, harsh much," the boy commented. Personally, he took umbrage to that. Did they think him a tattletale blabbermouth? His expression said it all.

"As a matter fact," Eeth said mildly, "I have not been allowed to tell my master either. It has nothing to do with age."

The mission would lead him to Nal Hutta and involve undercover activity against a criminal network that was involved with high-ranking Republican politicians. The less likely it was for any information about Eeth's identity to leak out, the better. And the fact that he was a young knight who had not acquired a reputation yet certainly helped.

Eden huffed, still unimpressed. Oh well, there wasn't much he could do about that, so he went to get ready for bed as instructed.

When he emerged ten minutes later, he was clad in a pair of sleep shorts and a singlet. He noticed that Eeth had turned off the holochannel. He might have flicked it back on had Eeth not stood from the table and beckoned him over.

Eeth guided Eden into a meditation that would allow him to connect with his master, if only superficially. Jay was still light years away, after all. When they resurfaced from their trance, they were silent for a moment. Eeth was just about to send Eden to bed when the boy spoke up.

"Alec and Brin seemed impressed by the fight today. Although I have to be honest: I was hoping they'd wipe the floor with you," Eden said conversationally as he shifted around on his knees in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. "It's annoying to be constantly beaten, you know."

"Is that any different with your master?" Eeth inquired, surprised by this statement. "He would be able to constantly beat you, too. He is bound to be better than you."

Again Eden shrugged. "He is, but it's not as frustrating with Jay." The boy thought about that for a long time, the silence not at all uncomfortable. "I lost my temper with him once, completely did my block," he confided, as if no time had passed at all. A smile crossed his lips briefly at the memory. "He wasn't too happy about that either. Didn't you ever get frustrated as a padawan"' he questioned, curious to know if Eeth had ever had issues as a padawan, well, other than his winning personality.

Eeth paused a little. He was not comfortable with talking about personal issues, but neither did he have any good reason to withhold that information. The question had not been offensive, after all, and his master had told him that most people felt put off when he refused to answer their innocent questions for no good reason.

"Not over sparring with my master," he said. "There were other issues I had difficulties with, of course. Sparring came easy to me, and a few years into my padawanhood, I was as good as my master. Unfortunately, this made me somewhat arrogant. Thus, my master arranged for me to take lessons with the best fighter in the Temple, and that was indeed a rather frustrating experience to me."

"Yeah, I could believe it," Eden said and coughed to hide the fact that this statement had been entirely truthful, albeit utterly untactful. "I never was any good with a lightsaber," he said, wanting to change the subject. "They say I'm gifted when it comes to using the Force. Apparently, that can sometimes happen when you are compensating from a very young age." Eden didn't think it necessary to point out that he was referring to being blind in one eye, nor did he know that Eeth had started life off similarly on Nar Shaddaa, having to use what came naturally to survive. He was silent for a while, wondering if Eeth would say anything if he didn't.

"Yes," Eeth said slowly. "That happens frequently, as a matter of fact."

At the age of four, he had already possessed some skills that Temple-raised Jedi were only taught as teenagers, such as Force-aided healing and Force-enhanced running. He had needed them to survive. He had also drawn on the Force in a way he had later learned was called "meditation" in order to deal with hunger, fatigue and pain. The degree of mental control he had developed in this way had been extraordinary. When he came to the Temple, it had helped him a great deal with those skills he had ben asked to study there, such as wielding a lightsaber or using the Force to conceal himself. On top of that, he had been ambitious and diligent to a degree that had made him rather unpopular with his peers. The only Force-related skill that he had never shown any talent for was the ability to sense animals' emotions and influence them. Maybe that was because he had not exactly been surrounded by animals in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, or maybe he had just not been born with that type of skill. In any case, it was one that not many Jedi possessed.

"Actually," he told Eden, deciding to change the subject before the conversation became too personal, "your skill at using the Force would help you a lot more in combat if you made more of an effort to develop your strength, endurance and agility, and if you had more confidence in yourself. Following the flow of the Force always works better than using your eyes when sparring. You should have an advantage there."

"I do have confidence in myself," protested Eden. "I'm pretty good at Soresu, but I also know my strengths and weaknesses. Defending myself against a master Ataru user sure isn't one of my strengths, Force or no Force. I'm working on the rest. Jay says I have a lot of improvement to make before I'll be ready for more than diplomatic missions."

"Well, nobody has ever claimed it will not take work," Eeth replied drily. "I was just saying that there is no reason why you should not be 'any good with a saber', as you phrased it."

He glanced at his chronometer, finding that it was close to Eden's bedtime by now. "Your master is going to return early tomorrow morning," he said. "You will probably get to see him before you need to leave for school."

This had the boy smile slightly. "I'm hoping Jay lets me stay home for the day," said Eden. "I haven't seen him in over a week, after all. It's worth a try," was added on, and his slight smile turned wry. "You will be free of me tomorrow," he stated, but there was no malice to his tone. Secretly, he was thinking that he'd also be free of Eeth! But again, the thought held no malice. Eden didn't hold a grudge against the man who had been tasked with his care, he had been grateful for the company. Mostly.

"So what will you do when you're not taking on super secret missions that you're forbidden to tell even an eleven-year-old padawan?" he asked. "You wouldn't have classes. Do you teach?"

"It is likely that I will teach classes at some point," Eeth replied. "I have already acquired some experience with that as a senior padawan. But most commonly, newly knighted Jedi are charged with long-term missions that masters who have padawans to take care of or who are not physically in prime condition cannot undertake."

"Makes sense," the boy agreed. "Or maybe the Force will lead you to a padawan instead, you never know." Eden secretly felt for whoever it was. Eeth wasn't exactly the softest, most affectionate of men. Then again, he was a good teacher. Certainly not suited to himself, though.

Finally, Eeth sent Eden off to bed. He spent the rest of the evening reading and memorising his mission briefing. Towards midnight, he went to bed himself, setting his alarm clock to five am. Jay might be home shortly after that.

* * *

That evening, Eden slept restlessly. He was excited about his master's return and kept waking up, half expecting to see the man leaning over his bed to check on him. It didn't happen.

All the same, he woke early, but apparently not as early as Eeth. "Do you sleep at all or is that simply another mere mortal weakness you are striving to overcome?" the boy commented with a touch of sarcasm as he exited his bedroom. He scrubbed at his eyes in an attempt to focus the one that functioned on their wall clock. Yep, as he had suspected, it was almost six in the morning, a good hour and a half before he was usually expected to rise.

"I did sleep," Eeth said mildly, not rising to the challenge, "but I do not usually sleep in. Your master might be home any minute, depending on whether the Council wants to speak to him immediately and for how long. Best take a shower and get dressed. I will take care of breakfast."

Not having expected Eeth to rise to his comment, Eden left to do as asked.

When he emerged barely ten minutes later, his hair roughly towel-dried and sticking up in all directions and wearing only his uniform pants, it was to the sight of his master seated at their kitchen table with Eeth. Eden had sensed the man's presence a few minutes after Eeth had ordered him into the shower. Thus, he'd rushed it to get out faster. "Master!" he exclaimed and darted towards him, his arms open for a hug; he'd missed the man.

"Eden!" Jay exclaimed, a huge smile on his face as he rose and pulled his padawan into a strong hug. He just held him for a minute, not speaking. He had really missed the boy, and he had also been worried when his sense of the Force had told him that Eeth and Eden had not made it off the planet as planned. It had taken quite a while until a transmission from the Temple had come through and informed him of the reasons, and he had not been entirely at ease until Eeth and Eden had finally managed to take off.

"How are you doing?" he finally asked, holding Eden at arm's length. "Has everything gone well during my absence?"

The bond between Jay and Eden was strong, considering how new their paring was. Then again, Eden was gifted when it came to most things Force-related, and that helped. "Much better now that you're home. I missed you," the boy whispered into the man's chest. He did not want to make Eeth feel like he had not enjoyed his company or appreciated that he had taken care of him, so when Jay released the hug he turned to face Eeth and smiled. Had everything gone well? He had hoped that this question would not come up for a while, not that he would have lied to his master, but he might have attempted to downplay some things more than he would with Eeth standing there. "Mostly," he decided was safe enough.

Jay grinned. "Mostly?" he asked, glancing at Eeth.

"There were a few instances," said Eeth matter-of-factly, "where I had to call Eden to task for his behaviour. He has, however, for the most part been of great help in repairing our ship and getting off-planet. I have no reason to complain."

"Alright then," Jay said, clapping Eden's shoulder. "I'll take Knight Koth's word for it. Let's have some breakfast before you need to head off for school. You can tell me about the details later."

Eden was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth! Thus, he ran to his bedroom to get his tunic and boots on and then came back out to help with breakfast. He had just finished setting the table and pouring everyone some tea when the two Jedi joined him. "Do I have to go to classes?" he asked Jay. "You just got back!"

"Oh yes, you do", said Jay. "I will spend most of the morning in my mission debriefing anyway."

"I think," said Eeth who had not yet sat down, "I should leave the two of you alone now."

"No, definitely not," said Jay. "You took care of my padawan for quite a while, after all. There's no need for you to rush off as if you were an unbidden guest. Besides, I want to thank you properly."

"Alright," Eeth, who hated it when people thanked him, said reluctantly and took a seat. "But I will have to leave right after breakfast. I have been assigned a mission and need to depart at noon."

"We will all have to leave after breakfast anyway," Jay said peacefully. "Eden, sit down and tuck in."

As was typical, the boy spent the next five minutes silently stuffing himself and didn't speak until he was filling his bowl for the second time. "Eeth is a pretty good cook," he commented when a pause in their conversation afforded it. "We got to eat some nice food while on the Niwago Islands. The port of Mauwag was by far the best, though." Eden went on to explain what had happened and how they had needed to travel from Mauwag, then into B'tik and finally to the northern wharf of Taktaw. "It was pretty hard going but fun all the same. Knight Koth taught me some new tricks to use on you next time we spar, OH!" the boy practically spat his food. "And the best part was piloting the speedboat!" Naturally, he had left out his shortcomings, but he didn't want to drag down their morning with that, mostly because he had grown fond of Eeth and the idea of not seeing him again was surprisingly unappealing.

"Well, this seems to have turned out more eventful than I had thought it would," Jay said with a grin. "And even educational. I see I will have to get us a mission that involves driving speedboats next. And I'm pleased to hear that your time on Antaeus was culinary satisfying. Mine wasn't; it seemed to go from bad to worse. And food was the least of our concerns. At least we managed to prevent some people from being killed, if not much else." He was quite aware that Eden had left out some bits from his account, and he fully intended to have a talk with the boy about those times at which Eeth had had to call him to task for his behaviour, but that could really wait a little, he thought.

After breakfast, he heartily thanked Eeth for having taken care of his padawan.

Eeth accepted the thanks rather stiffly; he never knew how to react to such things. When he thought he had adequately expressed the fact that Jay really had nothing to thank him for, he turned to Eden. "Well, goodbye, then," he said. "May the Force be with you. I hope you have learned something useful during the time I stayed with you; and I hope you will continue to make good progress with your training."

By now Eden was accustomed to Eeth's stiff demeanour, yet he still wrapped his arms around the man's middle to hug him tightly. "Thank you, Eeth, I did. I am grateful that you took care of me," he said honestly. Then, knowing that this would be making the knight feel uncomfortable, he pulled back and offered a very slight bow. "May the Force be with you." He leaned into his master's side.

Eeth returned the bow, gave both of them a slight smile, and left. He had, to his own surprise, quite enjoyed the time spent with Eden. Now it was time to get ready for his next mission.

"So," said Jay, ruffling Eden's hair, "off to school with you now. I need to leave, too, or I'll be late to see the Council, and that would be very impolite indeed."

"Indeed," the boy intoned, but it would have been clear to Jay that he was not entirely serious. He wrapped himself around the man one last time before snatching his pack and taking off out the door.

School that day was thankfully less eventful than the previous, something Eden was grateful of as he walked out of his final class and started home. As was typical, he tossed his cloak and bag on the couch and headed directly for the cupboards where he procured a handful of chips. Jay was not yet home, but Eden had known this might happen. Sometimes, with a complicated mission such as the one they had been assigned, it took time to record each detail. It was the first time he had been alone in his quarters in a very long time. He looked around and felt a little thrill of excitement at not being watched. Eden sat on the couch and flicked on the holo, only to feel a stab of guilt; Jay would not approve, especially given that he had that chemistry assignment to complete on top of his other work. With this in mind the boy turned off the holo and pulled the datapad from his pack and got to work.

Jay came home a little while later, pleased to see that Eden was dutifully doing his homework. "Hello, my hard-working padawan," he said cheerfully. "I'll order in some lunch for us."

He knew that Eden and he both liked the dining hall's Ba'ren casserole, which happened to be on offer today. Therefore, he ordered two servings, plus a dessert for Eden, and went to set the table while telling Eden to keep doing his work.

When they had finished eating, he leaned back in his chair and said: "So. Those misdeeds Eeth alluded to. What were they about?"

Eden was not Jay's first padawan, thus the man knew a bit about what eleven-year-olds were like. He would have been rather surprised to find Eden making it through two weeks, with an unknown person looking after him, without the slightest bit of trouble. Therefore, he had not been particularly shocked to hear that there had been some. But of course, he needed to know what category of trouble they were talking about here.

Eden fingered at their tablecloth casually. "Oh, you know, just stuff." He wasn't keen to discuss this and hoped that, given that Jay and he had been separated for such a long time, the man would cut him some slack and let this conversation slide, just this once. Eden didn't think that was asking too much.

Jay, on the other hand, thought it was. "Eden, you know better than that," he said calmly and firmly. "If I didn't want to know what kind of stuff it was that happened, I wouldn't have asked in the first place. Out with it."

Eden wrinkled his nose at that, but had the wisdom to stop stalling and started talking. "Mostly I got into trouble because I disobeyed Eeth, was deceptive or in the worst cases, both," Eden admitted and went on to explain what had happened the day he'd gone swimming at the boulders with Sage and Taram instead of doing his duty. "Me and another boy might have tried to drive the speedboat," he continued, "when Eeth had told us not to. That was particularly memorable, too. I don't know if you know this, but he showed up packing heat!" Eden accused, doing his best to shift the focus from himself and back on to Eeth. "He had a spanking paddle tucked into the back of his belt the whole time, really the WHOLE time! It was so humiliating." It hadn't really been, not really, but Eden was going for the sympathy card here.

"Hmm," Jay replied, unimpressed with Eden's behaviour, but also a little surprised that a newly knighted Jedi would go to such lengths. However, if Eeth had merely used the paddle for punishing Eden for the two things the boy had told him about, that had clearly been deserved. "Anything else I ought to know about?" he asked neutrally.

Eden tried not to shift under his gaze. "Probably, although I don't particularly want to tell you." Before Jay could reprimand him for that, however, he continued: "But I guess I have to. There were a few instances where I didn't want to train and might have mouthed off a bit. Force, the man almost killed me with workouts. He paddled me, and then he forced me to climb a tree with a boulder in my pack! I threatened to report him to the Council for that. I didn't, though. I wasn't brave enough." Naturally, Eden neglected to include why that particular task had been assigned.

"And if you had reported him to the Council," Jay asked, making a valiant effort at hiding his amusement, "and they had asked you what you did to make him assign this to you, what would you have told them?"

"I'd tell them that I was being sarcastic and suggested it because he had been really hard on me in our workouts. I didn't expect him to take me up on it! Bully."

"I assume the Council would have told you to consider it a learning experience," Jay replied, his eyes twinkling. "As a matter of fact, I'm quite glad that Eeth worked you hard. You really need to improve your physical condition, you know. And I've told you that before." There would also be more demanding workouts in Eden's future than the boy would be happy with. That was partly because Jay had planned that to happen anyway and partly because Eeth had written him a report about his time with Eden that Jay had only skimmed briefly so far but that had told him the boy was capable of more than he was used to, in his training, if given sufficient motivation.

"Now," Jay said, his face showing nothing of his thoughts, "was that all or was there more trouble?"

Eden screwed up his face, but that was the extent of it; he wasn't about to take on his master AND the Council, after all... "When we returned to the Temple, I got into trouble in class," Eden said in resignation. "You know I never get in trouble in school," he placated, holding up his hands. "But Alec, Brin and I, we kinda got carried away in labs yesterday. I have to write this massive essay and Eeth walloped me good." He paused for a moment and then added. "I don't know why I behaved like that. I guess at first I was trying to test him. I thought maybe I could get away with more than I can with you because he was new. I couldn't. He was worse!" Eden huffed, feeling a little indignation at his confession.

Jay raised his eyebrows. "You know I would have expected you to behave for him like you do for me," he said rather sternly. "Whether he turns out to be stricter or softer than myself. There is no need to test your limits just because I'm not around, and if that happens again, I'm going to be seriously displeased. Am I clear on that?"

The tone was noted and Eden straightened a little. "Yes, Master," he replied quietly, his head down as he played with the hem on the table cloth. He was starting to feel a little guilty about having put Eeth through that, although he also knew he had paid for his efforts. There was a pregnant pause, and the boy squirmed a bit. "I'm sorry that I didn't meet your expectations, I'll do better," he apologised, and it was sincere.

"I hope so," Jay said solemnly. "I really hope so because I'm not particularly fond of taking my belt to you, but I definitely will if I ever find you exploit a situation just as shamelessly again in order to get away with things that you shouldn't get away with. As for your misbehaviour in school, I'm glad that Eeth walloped you because if he hadn't done so, I certainly would. Now. Tell me honestly - and I mean honestly - whether you feel that you have been sufficiently punished for your behaviour."

The expression on Eden's face went from downcast and ashamed to pained. "Why do you have to ask me questions like that?" he mumbled through his fingers as he dragged a hand down his face. The question had been rhetorical, though, and so he continued. "Yes. Eeth really nailed me for the things I did. I think it was more than enough. But, I guess I feel a bit bad that I disobeyed you and tried to take advantage of Eeth, too." It had been an honest answer; Jay expected nothing less of him, he knew.

"Alright," said Jay, a lot more gently. "Thank you for the honest answer. Since I believe you that Eeth punished you enough, I will not add to it. But I stand by what I said about a repeat occurrence, so you had better keep that in mind."

He smiled at Eden. "Let's clear the table and go to the gym," he said. "I want to see what Eeth taught you."


End file.
